Both Etihad Airways and Air Arabia LLC announced yesterday that they will re-start their flight operation to Lebanon's capital today while Emirates Airlineflights will take off on Saturday.

"Etihad is delighted to be resuming flights to Beirut, which is one of our most popular destinations. There is a strong bond between the people of Lebanon and the UAE, and our services will continue to reunite those who were separated during the conflict," said Geert Boven, acting CEO and VP Commercial of the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

During the conflict, Etihad cancelled its operations to Beirut and began operating additional flights to Damascus, as did various other airlines. With the recent developments, Etihad will now operate daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut.

Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia, said: "It is imperative that we ensure that all of us do everything we can to foster some degree of normalcy for travellers to and from Lebanon. We realise that there are many who want to go back to their homes and to see family and friends as soon as they can and we want to do all that we can to help."

He advised passengers who have active bookings to Damascus until September 30 but wish to travel directly to Beirut, to contact Air Arabia's call centres so they can rebook their flights at no additional cost. Air Arabia will offer a daily flight between Sharjah and Beirut.

Meanwhile, Emirates will initially operate three flights a week between Dubai and Beirut starting September 9.

"Beirut remains an important part of our network in the Middle East and Levant. In the coming months, we aim to do our part to aid the city's recovery, by continuing to promote it as a gateway and destination for business and leisure, throughout our network," said Hamad Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President Commercial Operations — Gulf, Middle East and Iran.