Airport Director Denies Claims Saudi Airlines Halting Flights to Beirut

Head of Rafik Hariri International Airport denied claims that had emerged earlier on Wednesday that Saudi Arabian Airlines was seeking to halt its flights to Beirut, reported the National News Agency.

Fadi al-Hassan denied on Wednesday that “airport authorities had received a notice or a request by Saudi Arabian Airlines to stop or halt flights to and from Beirut.”

“I contacted an official from the airline, who denied such reports,” he added.

Al-Mayadeen television had quoted a ministerial source as saying that the Saudi airline was going to stop its flights to Beirut in wake of the crisis between Lebanon and the kingdom.

The crisis erupted when Saudi Arabia decided last week to halt a $4 billion grant to the Lebanese army and security forces and to review its diplomatic relations with Lebanon. The stance came after Lebanon's foreign ministry declined to vote in favor of Saudi-backed resolutions against Iran during two meetings of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers.

It also followed fierce anti-Saudi statements by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Announcing its decision on Friday, the kingdom deplored "political and media campaigns inspired by Hizbullah against Saudi Arabia," as well as what it called the group's "terrorist acts against Arab and Muslim nations."

In a statement, Hizbullah said Saudi Arabia stopped the military aid because of economic pressures from the war in Yemen, where it leads an Arab military coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels, and lower oil revenues.

The $3 billion deal funded military equipment provided by France and was to ship vehicles, helicopters, drones, artillery and other equipment to Lebanon.

Furthermore, Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait issued travel advisories to their citizens, urging them to leave Lebanon and avoid traveling to it.

M.T.