Aircraft took off empty for LCA from the wider taxiway due to runway holes.
The B732 belongs to a CIS carrier.
I have heard rumour this morning that some MEA aircraft have ferried into AMM for safe storage. Bear in mind the A330 are F- regd.

Fractional.....

Any carrier would prob try and do the samething in this situation. I wouldn't even question the professionalism of the MEA pilots as I think it was quite a feat to get the aircraft out and as ALLDAYDELI pointed out the aircraft are French registered so to destroy them would be an act of aggression against France. Don't you think it would be one of the first things the opposing force would aim for? It wouldn't surprise me if their were some top level behind the scenes negotiations between the French and Israeli governments to allow the aircraft to depart and for the airforce to turn a 'blind eye'' . If the aircraft were Labanese registered then im sure the story would be totally different...

KLM crew was slipping in Larnaca and have been flown home

TV footage showed private Lockheed Jetstar bizjet departing as well besides MEA a/c

Ladies and Gentlemen....

Firstly it is important that I declare my utmost concern and condolences for all concerned in what can only be described as another modern tragedy....Shakespeare had no idea!

The fact is, and this I know....any foreign/Middle East operator was warned of impeding attacks and most importantly of any subsequent attacks so as to ensure they didn't clobber any foreign/M.E assets.


:suspect:

Apparently 4 A321's and 1 A330 have escaped to Larnaca and the other A321 in AMM - not sure about Menajets A320 or the Kurdistan 732 you can see parked up in the news footage....

They won't be touched, and the window to get the other jets out would have been dictated. A very orchestrated and unfortunately premiditated situation.

I hope everyone comes to their senses soon and dialogue is opened between the respective parties to stop any further unnecessary loss.

:uhoh:

Austrian Learjet escaped to Nice last night so the field is indeed not completely closed

TAG G200 + crew still stuck

some groups and persons have made their way over land to Syria, eventually flying out via Damascus and Aleppo

3 RAF Chinooks tankstopping in Nice Saturday, departing east (selfdeploying to RAF Akrotiri for upcoming evacuation?)

A number of MEA's narrow-body Airbus birds are "F" registered, also. It cracked me up every time seeing their registrations...all "CHEESE" based! The -321's all have something like "F-ORMG" and "F-ORMJ" etc. It read funny, in a "HAHAHA!" cheesy kinda way. :)

Is there any word on damage to the terminal itself? BEY has one of the nicest Duty-Free's anywhere (albeit small) for buying those awesome sweet treat-snackie-thingies (aka Lebanese Sweets...not to mention the sweetest eye-candy attendants behind the counter...). :ok:

Condolences to everyone caught up in this mess. Pray it doesn't spiral.

~ R.D.

Hi folks,

Anybody with info on current airport status in Lebanon (usable length, undamaged taxiways etc)?

Brgds,

strangly enough no mention of anything in NOTAMs

From the US Notam office:

OLBA RAFIC HARIRI INTL [Back to Top]

A0177/06 - AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SERVICE , FLIGHT INFORMATION SERVICE AND ARE ALERTING ARE NOT PROVIDED WITHIN BEIRUT AIRSPACE 14 JUL 12:54 UNTIL 19 JUL 12:00

A0176/06 - RAFIC HARIRI INT'L AIRPORT CLOSED DUE DAMAGE AFFECTING ALL RUNWAYS ( 16/34,17/35 AND 21/03 )AND TWYS AS A RESULT OF AIRRAID. 14 JUL 10:00 UNTIL 19 JUL 12:00

check

OLBA A0178/06 RAFIC HARIRI INT'L AIRPORT CLOSED DUE TO BOMBING
DAMAGE AFFECTING RUNWAYS 16/34 17/35 AND 21/03 AND TWYS 20 JUL
18:30 UNTIL 31 JUL 23:59

Fox3, your comments are either incredibly naive or impeccibly sourced... it would be good if you could hint as to which... :suspect:

It seems that the Royal Jordanian Air Force landed a C-130 hercules this morning. Anybody with first hand info on the runways conditions?

is this because the jordanian air force is the only air force with a bit of bottle, this time though i believe lebanon will make the world even more turbulant unless we deal with the problem now.

anyway what other a/c are still left at lebanon.

all the best

I was surprised to see a couple of days back a MEA flying out of LHR bound for Damascus, Syria. Clearly this must be the base for MEA during this period of war.

MM

There's a new timetable on the MEA website (as a single-page Excel spreadsheet !) which shows services from Damascus to major western European and Gulf destinations, and which seems to require a minimum of 4 operational aircraft.

Back in the 1980s when Beirut was attacked they moved their ops to Larnaca instead, in a comparable fashion.