Cyprus Airways resumed its daily flights to Beirut Friday less than 24 hours after Israel lifted its eight-week blockade on Lebanon.
A Cyprus Airways announcement said that the flights will resume according to the schedule before the start of hostilities on July 12 when Beirut airport was closed.
The 25-minute flights from nearby Larnaca airport, that had acted as an evacuation centre for the tens of thousands of Lebanese and foreign nations who fled the country under Israeli bombings, leave every day at 22.00 local time (1900 GMT) and stay over during the night to return to Cyprus at 08.00 local time (0500 GMT) the following morning.
The morning flights share a similar time schedule with Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines, that also operates daily flights between Beirut and Larnaca.
The Friday morning MEA flight to Larnaca was overbooked and the acrrier will be flying at full capacity until Tuesday, airport officials said.
The MEA flight from Paris was the first to touch down at Rafik Al Hariri International Airport on Thursday marking the end of the Israeli air blockade. It was soon followed by a Kuwait Airways plane with most other carriers operating to Beirut resuming their pre-war schedules.
The Arab Air Carriers Organisation reported on its website that MEA announced losses of USD 45 mln during the two-month war, USD 16 mln of which was damages resulting from the Israeli offensive.
During the war, MEA was operating from Damascus and through Amman at an additional cost of 35% due an increased time of flight. The airline affirmed its commitment to serve passengers and provide a connection between Lebanon and the world.
Israel was also expected to end its naval blockade later Friday as it coordinated the handover of control to United Nations forces.
After Israel imposed air and sea blockades on Lebanon following its conflict with the Shiite group Hezbollah, Cyprus opened its two ports of Larnaca and Limassol to cruise ships and navy vessels of foreign governments who wished to evacuate their citizens from the war zone.
Cyprus public services were strained to provide humanitarian aid supplies and help with the repatriation of some 40,000 foreign nationals from Canada, Australia, the US, India, Germany and other European countries, while the main Larnaca airport was coping with three times the normal capacity during the already busy summer tourist season.
