Flying despite Israeli attacks, Middle East Airlines becomes symbol of pride for Lebanon
As a growing number of airlines cancel and reroute flights in the region to avoid conflict, Lebanon's flagship carrier has provided a sense of stability amid turmoil.
Global airlines continue to divert and cancel flights to several Middle Eastern destinations amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and its regional foes, causing travel chaos and shrinking the industry's profits.
A growing number of airlines have begun rerouting more flights over Afghanistan to avoid Iranian airspace, as the region braces for a broader conflagration that would pitch Iran into a full-blown conflict with the Jewish state. However, one airline, Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, or MEA, continues to stay the course. Even as Israel continues to pummel Beirut and Hezbollah targets in the country’s south, “The most badass airline on the planet,” as War Monitor described it on X, continues to glide through plumes of black smoke and the din of explosions to land and take off from the capital’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, which remains operational.
Not even Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s death on Sept. 27 in an Israeli attack appears to have affected MEA’s schedule, a boon to those seeking to flee Lebanon to safe havens in Europe and beyond. Between 32 and 40 planes, close to the average in peacetime, take off and land at the airport daily despite the proximity of Israeli airstrikes to Hezbollah targets along the coast.
The intrepid carrier — easily distinguishable by the green cedar tree, Lebanon’s national symbol, that adorns its tail — has become a source of pride and unity for this conflict-wracked nation of 6 million people, be they Shiite, Sunni, Christian or Druze.
