Jordan Times
Friday, August 18, 2006
Flights between Amman
and Beirut resume
Royal Jordanian airlines will begin a daily schedule of three
flights to Lebanon as of Saturday
By Stephanie Tournear
AMMAN — The first commercial flights arrived in
Beirut from Amman on Thursday, signalling a major step towards a return to
normalcy after the Israeli siege of Lebanon.
Middle East Airlines (MEA) was the first passenger plane to take off from Amman
and land in Beirut with 149 passengers at 1:00pm.
The second plane, from Royal Jordanian airlines (RJ), took off a half-hour later
with 17 passengers including media representatives.
“Two more planes are scheduled to leave for Beirut on Friday and after that we
will gradually increase our flights,” said RJ Spokesperson Basel Kilani.
Thus far, more than 80 per cent of seats on the flights for that day are booked,
Kilani added. Three RJ flights are also planned for Saturday and everyday
thereafter.
A statement issued by MEA said the airline will start regular flights Sunday
from Beirut to several destinations in the region, passing through Amman.
Meanwhile, MEA will continue to operate flights to and from European
destinations out of Damascus
Airport in neighbouring Syria.
Local travel agencies report that ticket prices have not been affected by the
conflict, which is good news to the roughly 15,000 Lebanese currently residing
in Jordan.
Amman is currently the only point of contact by air with Beirut and the two
carriers are the only companies authorised to fly there so far.
Although flights are scheduled, the Lebanese government has not officially
reopened the airport though officials expect a full schedule of commercial
flights by next week.
Israeli officials authorised the flights in spite of their continued air and sea
blockade on Lebanon. There has been no indication by the Israeli government of
exactly when the blockade will end.
An Israeli army spokesman in Jerusalem said “the two passenger planes were
coordinated with us” and received permission to land on Thursday, according to
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
But the military insisted it would continue to restrict movement into Lebanon
regardless of permission granted for the two passenger jets, AFP reported.
“The limitations will remain in place as long as we don’t transfer areas under
our control to forces who should deploy there,” a spokeswoman told the news
agency.
Rafiq Hariri International Airport in Beirut was the first to be hit by Israeli
warplanes and gunboats on July 13 after the capture of two Israeli soldiers by
Hizbollah. The Israelis bombed all three runways as well as fuel tanks at the
airport.
MEA evacuated its planes from Beirut to Jordan, Cyprus and Syria just before the
airport was hit.
Earlier this week, Lebanese Transportation Minister Mohammad Safadi said repairs
to the damaged airport are expected to take more than two months before it is
fully operational. He added that the government will not carry out all repairs
until they receive security guarantees from the Israeli military.