Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is a subsidiary of the company established in December 2019 (Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Low-cost airline Wizz Air will start flying to Beirut from Abu Dhabi three times a week as of June this year, the company announced recently.
The airline’s Abu Dhabi subsidiary said three direct flights will connect the United Arab Emirates to the Lebanese capital starting on 4 June.
The flights will be every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and a cheaper alternative for those wishing to fly to Beirut with fares starting as low as 359 Dirhams. The tickets are already on sale.
Upon announcing the new Beirut route, managing director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Johan Eidhagen, said: “Lebanon’s blend of history, culture, and modernity makes it appealing for business and leisure travel”.
The UAE has a large Lebanese diaspora who are especially expected to benefit from the new route.
Many Lebanese have often complained about the high prices with Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), which holds a monopoly on flights from some cities to Beirut.
The New Arab contacted Wizz Air to ask whether they had any plans to fly to Lebanon from other destinations.
Speaking to the UAE’s The National newspaper, Eidhagen believed Lebanon would recover “relatively fast” with the Middle East as a tourism destination growing “massively,” adding that there was increased demand for Lebanon routes.
“While there’s a lot of traffic between UAE and Beirut, the frequency of travel is still relatively small and we believe that by making the route more affordable, people will be incentivised to travel more often or take more of these shorter trips,” he said.
Tourism is one of Lebanon’s main economic contributors, but the sector has taken a massive hit in recent years due to political instability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and spillovers of the Syrian war.
The small Mediterranean country continues to reel from last year’s devastating conflict with Israel which killed thousands and left swathes of the country’s south, eastern Beqaa region, and Beirut’s southern suburbs in ruins.
Beirut itself was the target of many Israeli airstrikes.
But unlike the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, the Rafic Hariri International Airport – Lebanon’s only civilian airport – was spared from the attacks, and MEA continued operating flights as missiles rained down on nearby areas.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has vowed to open an existing airport in northern Lebanon to international flights, citing logistical, security and economic needs for a second airport in the country.
Successive Lebanese governments have failed to meet their promises to turn the Rene Mouawad Airbase into a civilian airport despite repeated public demands.
Once used as a civilian airport during the Lebanese civil war, experts say the facility doesn’t require much to begin operating.
Despite last year’s war and the fragile ceasefire which this week seemed to be on the verge of collapse, Lebanon remains a notable destination known for its rich culinary scene, stunning natural landscapes, vibrant nightlife, and well-preserved ancient ruins, with monuments dating back to earlier than 5,000 BC.
