Emirates to increase services to Beirut

Emirates will gradually increase its services to Beirut with a third daily flight, fully effective on 1 October.
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The addition of this service will take the total number of weekly Emirates flights serving Lebanon to 21. 

Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, divisional senior vice president commercial operations, centre said: “Emirates’ expanded schedule from Beirut will offer enhanced connectivity for our customers when travelling onwards to destinations in the United States and Australia, where many of the major Lebanese communities can be found, making the journey more convenient for them. The third flight’s timings will also increase connectivity to key African points in our network.” 

Timings have been scheduled to facilitate more effective onward connections from Dubai to destinations in the United States such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as vital connections to Australian points like Sydney and Melbourne. Some of the largest Lebanese communities reside in these countries with estimates of more than 3.5 million people of Lebanese origin in the United States, according to data from the Arab American Institute.

Analyst Saj Ahmad said: "Beirut has been a superb money spinner for Emirates and likewise for flydubai. Launching a third daily flight not only gives move travel options, the additional flight gives Emirates an edge over its competitors by way of its First Class cabin product that others cannot match or compete against. There is however a concern that if there were to be any spill-over from the conflict in neighbouring Syria into Lebanon, there just as with Iraq where Emirates pulled flights over safety concerns, we could see the same transpire here."
 
He added: "Having said that, the security situation in Lebanon, despite being somewhat fragile, is a much better than that of Syria and therefore Emirates is keen to tap into the demand pool from Beirut, particularly at a time when tensions are high and not many airlines would take such a brave move like this. It's a positive display of confidence by Emirates and they'll reap the rewards of it too."