Relief for Lebanese as UAE flights resume in time for Christmas break

High prices hit scores of residents, but Etihad Airways and Air Arabia are leading a return to service from Wednesday

Etihad Airways is about to resume non-stop daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut. Photo: Etihad Airways

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

Lebanese citizens in the UAE hope the resumption of flights to Beirut will bring down exorbitant flight costs.

Etihad Airways is resuming non-stop daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday, the same day as Air Arabia's flights departing Sharjah.

Escalating tensions in the region between Hezbollah and Israel forced many Gulf airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, Qatar, flydubai, Saudia and Oman Air to suspend services to Lebanon in early October. Only Lebanon's Middle East Airlines continued to operate even as the area around Rafic Hariri International Airport was bombed by Israeli jets.

A US-brokered ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah on November 27.

Abed, a Lebanese resident who lives in Dubai, said airlines were previously "abusing the limited availability and jacking up the prices".

The data engineer, who wants to only use his first name, tells The National that he would spend less than Dh2,000 ($544) for a return flight to Beirut during the festive season. But this year, he's paying "almost double".

"The only reason I booked is because I pushed the price down with credit card points," he says. "Airlines in general are notoriously predatory in their behaviour, but this year it's on another level."

To offset the high prices, Abed says he booked tickets on two airlines, Royal Jordanian and MEA, for his annual trip home to visit his family. "I wish other airlines were ready to resume earlier. Maybe the price gouging wouldn't have been so blatant," he says.

Elias, a consultant in Dubai, agrees. He says the resumption of flights couldn't have come sooner. He paid more than Dh4,000 for a return flight from Dubai to Beirut on December 20, which he says is "much higher than normal holiday peak".

Meanwhile, Ali, a high school teacher who also lives in Dubai, says he paid similarly high prices so he can go home for the holidays. "The airfare is much higher than what I would usually pay for a trip to Lebanon, which is normally somewhere between Dh1,500 and Dh2,500. I paid around Dh3,800," he says.

"It is quite understandable though, with the high demand and limited offer, prices can skyrocket fast. Also, many airlines had not resumed their flights to Beirut, which made direct flight options scarce. Some cheaper options included flights with stops in Amman. But for a three-hour trip, I did not feel a stopover was worth the savings."

Ali, who's flying with MEA, is hopeful that life will return to normal in Lebanon soon. He says he's staying around Beirut but is also planning to travel around the country if it's safe. "I want to revisit some of my favourite places, discover new places and check on places that were the target of Israeli attacks in the past months," he says. "I want to create new memories and mourn the places that no longer exist."

Grace Dergham, an architect who lives in Abu Dhabi, echoes similar feelings. Despite having to shell out more than usual on return flights to Beirut, she says she just wants to be home "after everything that happened".

"It’s a bittersweet feeling, to be honest," she adds. "I’m very happy that I’m going back home and I don’t want to take a single second of it for granted, especially since we weren’t sure when we’d be back again during the war. And now that I’m going home, I’m so grateful."

Israel's onslaught throughout Lebanon killed at least 3,961 people and displaced more than 1.3 million – the vast majority in the past two months, according to UNHCR and Lebanese government estimates.

Dergham says she hopes life will be normal in Lebanon again soon. "We just want a stable country that will love us back as much as we love it," she says.

Flights to Lebanon from Dubai via Emirates and flydubai remain suspended as of Tuesday. “We are monitoring the situation closely and currently reviewing the status of our operations to Lebanon,” a representative for flydubai told The National.

According to the latest information from Emirates, flights to and from Lebanon remain cancelled up to and including December 31. Travellers booked to fly with Emirates who have Beirut as a final destination are not being accepted on flights at any point of origin.