Beirut: Russia has bombed Daesh in the heaviest strikes in eastern Syria since the war began, as Moscow’s military manoeuvres in the Mediterranean forced Lebanon to reroute flights.
On Saturday, flights in and out of Lebanon were rerouted and some airlines cancelled services after Moscow requested they avoid an area over the eastern Mediterranean.
Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said Moscow asked “that planes leaving Beirut airport towards the west avoid overflying an area in Mediterranean territorial waters because of manoeuvres on Saturday, Sunday and Monday”.
Departing flights were directed south over Sidon and Sarafand to “keep them away from the perimeter of the manoeuvres”.
Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines said most of its flights would be on schedule but “some flights to the Gulf and the Middle East region might take (a) longer time due to a slight change in airways”.
Kuwait Airways said it was suspending its Beirut flights “as a precautionary measure” but most other flights were arriving and leaving normally.
