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Lufthansa to Resume Flights to Amman, Erbil from Aug. 27

Planes stand on the tarmac during a pilots strike of German airline Lufthansa at Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
Planes stand on the tarmac during a pilots strike of German airline Lufthansa at Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
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Lufthansa to Resume Flights to Amman, Erbil from Aug. 27

Planes stand on the tarmac during a pilots strike of German airline Lufthansa at Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)
Planes stand on the tarmac during a pilots strike of German airline Lufthansa at Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 23, 2016. (Reuters)

Germany's Lufthansa Group will resume flights to Jordan's Amman and Erbil in Iraq from Aug. 27, making use of a northern corridor in Iraqi airspace for the Erbil trips, it said on Friday, Reuters reported.

The group, which includes carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings, extended its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including Sept. 2, while flights to Beirut are suspended through Sept. 30, it said.

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Minister: Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Cost Lebanon $10 Billion

Empty tables stand at an empty restaurant at the Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace, with a general view visible in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Empty tables stand at an empty restaurant at the Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace, with a general view visible in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
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Minister: Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Cost Lebanon $10 Billion

Empty tables stand at an empty restaurant at the Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace, with a general view visible in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Empty tables stand at an empty restaurant at the Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace, with a general view visible in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

Lebanon’s hopes of boosting its economy with tourism revenue have been thwarted, after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs and threat of all-out war triggered a series of travel bans and sent holidaymakers packing, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Summer-season income from visitors — mostly from among Lebanon’s large diaspora — had been expected to surpass the $5 billion to $7 billion pumped in last year, according to Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam. But, he said in an interview, that all changed after the strike late last month, which has raised fears of a wider conflict on Lebanese soil between Israel and Hezbollah.

The rocket attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Fouad Shukr, a senior commander of Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with Israel since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

The conflict has already cost Lebanon more than $10 billion, Salam said, basing his estimate on lost revenue and damage to infrastructure.

“We had dreamed” the growth in spending by tourists and returning Lebanese would continue, he said in his Beirut office. But “everyone who had booked canceled, and everyone who was here left. That sector froze. Hotels and stores are empty.”

Governments issued travel warnings around the time of Israel’s strike and airlines suspended flights. Tourist spending in Lebanon was a significant boost to a economy that’s been in meltdown over the past five years because of a banking and debt crisis.

“This money is what kept the country alive,” Salam said.