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French airlines Air France and Transavia halt Beirut flights until Tuesday

Flights to Beirut by Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France will remain suspended until at least Tuesday due to "security" concerns in the region, parent company Air France-KLM said.

Published: 3 August 2024 12:27 CEST
This photo shows Air France aircraft at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France, north of Paris
This photo shows Air France aircraft at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France, north of Paris. Two French airlines have stopped flights to Beirut until Tuesday amid 'security' concerns in the region. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

The two French airlines first stopped servicing the route on Monday, a day after Israel vowed to retaliate following rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

“Any resumption of operation will be subject to a renewed evaluation on the ground,” a spokesman said Saturday, adding that passengers with reservations could rebook at no extra cost.

Flights to Tel Aviv will continue as normal, he added.

The rocket attack on the Golan Heights sparked fears that fighting between Hezbollah and Israel would escalate.

When those fears subsided somewhat the airlines announced on Tuesday that flights would resume on Wednesday.

But Israel then struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut on Tuesday evening, targeting a senior commander it blamed for the rocket strike on the Golan Heights.

This development sparked an extension of the flight suspension until Saturday, which has now been prolonged again.

Iran said earlier on Saturday it expects the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.

Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces.

German carrier Lufthansa has suspended flights until August 5.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Eurostar says may scrap links to Amsterdam from 2025

Eurostar's chief has threatened to scrap the rail route to the Netherlands from 2025 because of doubts over when Amsterdam's international terminal will reopen.

Published: 19 September 2024 17:03 CEST
Eurostar says may scrap links to Amsterdam from 2025

“Could the Netherlands be temporarily cut off from one of the most essential rail links in Europe?” Gwendoline Cazenave asked in an editorial for Dutch business daily Het Financieele Dagblad on Wednesday.

The Dutch network was suffering “reliability problems, capacity restrictions and delays that are particularly inconvenient for passengers”, she argued.

The company could cut both its Amsterdam-Rotterdam-London and Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Paris routes in 2025, Cazanave’s editorial said.

“In the absence of clarity from the Dutch rail network (…), Eurostar will be forced to suspend connections between Amsterdam-Rotterdam and London and Paris during 2025”, warns Gwendoline Cazenave.

With Amsterdam’s main station undergoing extensive work since June the direct London route has temporarily closed.

Cazenave said that on various sections of track Eurostar trains had been forced to halve their speed to 80 kph since November.

Since the direct route to London was halted for a scheduled six months through to year’s end, passengers have had to disembark in Brussels for passport control before completing their journey.

The Amsterdam upgrade was meant to take six months, but Eurostar has deplored what it says is the lack of guarantees on a resumption date.

“Eurostar is fully prepared to reopen direct connections at the beginning of 2025, as planned,” said Cazenave.

But other work has also been announced from early 2025 in the station, which would limit the availability of platforms, she added. The London connection requires the station to also provide border control services, as since Brexit the lines crosses an EU external border. 

In 2023, Eurostar said it had carried a total 4.2 million passengers between the Netherlands and France, Britain and Belgium.

French national railway operator SNCF Voyageurs holds a majority stake in Eurostar.

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