SWISS to continue flights to Beirut after mid-air diversion
Despite cancelling a flight to Beirut in mid-air on Friday due to security concerns in Lebanon, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) intends to maintain its flight schedule of twice-weekly direct flights to Lebanon from Zurich.
Owing to a security situation that was difficult to assess, SWISS experts decided on Friday night to cancel the flight from Zurich to Beirut while in the airspace over Bosnia-Herzegovina. This was done as a precautionary measure, as first reported by 20 Minuten.
The decision was made during the flight because “developments were unclear at the time” and time was needed to “properly assess the situation”, SWISS informed the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA on Friday. They said they had worked closely with the security departments within the Lufthansa Group.
As the returning Airbus A220-300 with 138 passengers on board was no longer authorised to land in Zurich given the time of night, the flight was diverted to Vienna. The passengers were rebooked on other flights.
Flights will continue
After further “extensive checks”, SWISS decided to maintain the flight programme to Beirut and Tel Aviv in Israel as planned despite the latest developments in the Middle East. They are in close contact with the relevant authorities.
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Satisfied with safety guarantees, SWISS resumes flights to Beirut
Only mid-week did it become known that Swiss pilots and flight attendants were withdrawing from flights to Israel due to safety concerns. To ensure that all flights can be operated as planned, staff must now withdraw at least seven days before a flight to Israel.
SWISS said it understood the concerns of some of its crew members, but emphasised that specialists have examined the situation and have concluded that the current situation is stable and safe.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/ts
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