Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Private jets and yachts take passengers fleeing Lebanon

A busy Beirut airport in August this year; the airport is currently open but flights are limited Ahmed Saad/Reuters
A busy Beirut airport in August this year; the airport is currently open but flights are limited
  • Many flights out of Lebanon cancelled
  • Luxury companies offer expensive escape
  • Concern Beirut airport will close

People trying to flee the escalating conflict in Lebanon are turning to expensive private bus, yacht and jet operators as an increased number of airlines cancel flights.

“If Beirut’s airport is closed due to the ongoing conflict, don’t worry,” reads one of the many such adverts that have inundated Lebanese social media. “Our luxury yachts offer a safe and comfortable way to evacuate the danger zone.”

The company, Lcube Beirut, usually deals with event planning, putting on holiday excursions and adventure experiences for holidaymakers.

Now it is offering regular yacht charters from Lebanon to Turkey and Cyprus, charging between $1,500 and $2,500.

“These are all luxury boats,” said Jad Kourani, CEO and founder of Lcube. Kourani said he has transported more than 1,000 people in the past few weeks, mostly foreigners looking to get out of Lebanon quickly and prepared to pay a high mark-up for a trip that, just three weeks ago, could be made for comfortably less than $100.

In normal times “we rarely get requests out of Beirut,” said Hadi Abdel Hadi, CEO of Dubai-based Universal Jets, but on Wednesday he is scheduled to make his 12th trip since the fighting intensified. 

Prices start from $30,000 for a 40-minute trip to Larnaca in Cyprus on a seven-seater Cessna Citation. The trip usually costs no more than $10,000, he said, but the ongoing bombing has sent his insurance premiums soaring.

The longest trip Universal Jets has made in the last fortnight was a charter to Guinea at a cost of €450,000 ($492,000). It has four jets in its fleet, including a 14-seater Falcon 900, the model favoured by celebrities such as Taylor Swift and John Travolta. Promotional material from the manufacturer shows it equipped with an onboard kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

Ammar Akkawi, managing director of PRFD, a Beirut-based company that also charters private jets, said luxury was not the primary demand from those booking at the moment, just the need for “a safe experience”.

“They’re worried that the airport might actually close,” he said, as it did during the 2006 war when it was bombed by Israel. “They want to get out as soon as possible.”

A surge in demand for the few flights leaving Lebanon has created long waits and high prices. A search showed no available flights between Beirut and Istanbul for four days except for one: a 31-hour one-way trip via Dubai and Vienna at a cost of £2,002. 

PRFD has flown numerous flights from Lebanon to Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey and Jordan in recent days and has more bookings in the days to come.

At time of writing, Beirut’s airport remains open, with most flights in and out operated by the Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines, which declined to comment.