People wait to board a boat and leave the country on Sept. 30, in Dbayeh, Lebanon. Some in Beirut have arranged to evacuate to Cyprus by boat amid Israel's escalating attacks on Hezbollah facilities and leadership around the country. Beirut's airport is still operational but many travellers have found it difficult to reserve flights.Daniel Carde/Getty Images
The business focus of Ali Nehme, a Lebanese captain and chief executive officer of Beirut’s True North Yachting, has shifted rather dramatically in the past couple of weeks. Today, he is not booking tourists on pleasure cruises; he is ferrying desperate passengers to Cyprus and Turkey as Israel and Lebanon fight each other on Lebanese soil.
Mr. Nehme has access to 30 yachts, which range in length from 20 to 35 metres, each of which is capable of carrying a dozen passengers, plus a skipper and three crew members. The preferred destination of his passengers is the port of Ayia Napa on Cyprus’s extreme southeast coast, a journey of five or six hours, depending on the weather, from Beirut. Passengers who lack European Union visas – Cyprus is an EU member – probably will choose to go to a Turkish port.
The fee is about US$2,500 a head. “Our next boats leave on Thursday, but this is not exactly an emergency departure,” he told The Globe and Mail. “The passengers simply can’t find flights from Lebanon.”
Some of his clients, including embassies and media groups – he would not identify them – purchase one-month contracts that would give them guaranteed passage if there is a sudden rush to leave Lebanon, which could happen if Beirut’s airport were to close.
A boat with people evacuating to Cyprus prepares to depart on Sept. 30, in Dbayeh, Lebanon.Daniel Carde/Getty Images
Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport is still open, but most airlines have eliminated flights to the city since Israel began bombing Hezbollah targets nearby more than a week ago. The airport is located in south Beirut, which is considered a Hezbollah stronghold and is where the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in a massive Israeli bombing raid on Friday. The area was hit again by Israeli warplanes on Monday.
Middle East Airlines (MEA) is one of the few airlines that is still taking passengers in and out of Beirut. When a Globe and Mail reporter landed on Sunday in Beirut, his plane was one of only two aircraft on the tarmac. MEA does not leave its planes at the airport overnight. They generally “sleep” at airports in Cyprus or Turkey or Jordan. In the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Israel bombed the airport and closed Lebanese airspace.
MEA for the most part remains the focus of the evacuation efforts of most embassies in Beirut, including Canada’s. In a social media message on Monday, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly urged Canadians to leave Lebanon immediately.
Ms. Joly said that, on Monday, the government had secured 800 additional airline seats over three days for Canadians wanting to leave Lebanon. The government does not buy the MEA seats. It just guarantees that the seat tickets will be sold. So far, they all have. About 200 tickets were bought on Sunday and Monday alone.
Loans are available for those who cannot afford the ticket prices.
A Canadian government security official, whom The Globe is not identifying because she was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the government is also developing emergency evacuation plans. They would kick in if the airport closes or the war between Israel and Hezbollah spreads, triggering a panicky exodus. In the early hours of Tuesday, Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon and the Israel Defence Forces issued evacuation orders for about 30 villages north of the Lebanese border. Beirut’s airport was still operating late on Tuesday.
The official said that the emergency planning has been under way for months and could see the government charter commercial vessels to take Canadians from Lebanon to Cyprus or special flights into Beirut airport if its runways are accessible. She said Department of National Defence officials in Cyprus are involved in the planning and that Canada was working with other countries on the strategy.
In 2006, about 60,000 people fleeing the Israel-Hezbollah war landed in Cyprus. The 2006 evacuation was chaotic, the Canadian official said, but U.S., Australia, Britain and others are working together this time.