Tag Archives | air canada

Beirut-Montreal Direct Flights Are Not Happening Anytime Soon!

Remember all the talks about possible re-establishment of non-stop flights between Beirut and Montreal? Well, Duncan Bureau, VP Global Sales at Air Canada unfortunately tweeted on Monday that the Canadian Government rejected their application to make it happen, which is definitely a huge disappointment for the Lebanese community there.

For more details I recommend you read this article “What Is It About Direct Flights To Beirut That Scares Trudeau?” by the Huffington Post discussing how illogical the rejection is given that airlines from much less secure countries such as Egypt are allowed in Montreal.

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Beirut-Montreal Direct Flights Might Soon Become a Reality

According to a recent article, Air Canada seems to be currently focused on making direct flights possible between Montreal and Beirut.

“We started the regulatory process in 2003,” Rovinescu said. However, geopolitical events intervened, and the carrier itself did not have the right equipment to make the route viable. “We are now at the stage where it looks like we can put the pin in it,” he said.

Part of the challenge of operating the route is ensuring right-level security screenings in Beirut, Rovinescu added. Air Canada is working with its Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, which operates in Beirut, to learn how to address these concerns. Source

With more than 200,000 Lebanese now residing in Canada (as per Wikipedia), such direct route is much needed to help them avoid the tiresome layovers in the European or Gulf cities. And attributing the ban on Beirut Airport to security issues is in my opinion invalid since many airlines operate direct flights to European airports that have some pretty high security standards.

Back in 2012 there was some talks about bringing back direct flights between Lebanon and the United States but it never led to something serious, so let’s hope the efforts Air Canada is currently putting to make Beirut-Montreal route possible do not end the same way.

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