With limited flight options available, luxury yachts and boats become lifelines for Lebanese fleeing Israel's attacks

With Israel's brutal attacks on Lebanon nearing the one-month mark and with no end in sight, thousands of citizens are trying to escape the relentless bombings by fleeing the country in a new mass exodus.

Between 1865 and 1916 it was estimated that about a third of Mount Lebanon’s population had emigrated by the end of the First World War in the first exodus. The second wave occurred during the 1975-1990 Civil War, which saw about 990,000 people leave Lebanon and many more left following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war and the 2020 Beirut Blast.

Now, over 1.2 million people have been displaced due to the shelling in south Lebanon, where Israel has mounted a ground invasion, and from areas targeted in Beirut, leaving a full quarter of the population homeless and sleeping on the streets.

The UN estimates about 300,000 Lebanese have left the country, though this number is likely much higher.

At least 100,000 people have fled on foot to Syria, now made far more difficult following an attack by Israel on October 4 targeting the Masnaa Lebanon-Syria Border Crossing that cut off access.

Flight ticket prices skyrocketing to $2,000

Options for leaving the country are becoming increasingly limited. Most foreign commercial airlines have suspended all flights to Lebanon’s only airport in Beirut until further notice.

With limited supply — sometimes with only business class seats remaining, or routes with multiple layovers — ticket prices have skyrocketed, with some reaching over $2,000, making them unaffordable for citizens in a country that remains in the grip of a dire economic crisis.   

Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines continues to operate flights, with frightening scenes on social media showing the crew bravely landing amid heavy airstrikes.

However, their small fleet is simply not sufficient to meet the staggering demand. 

Rola Mamlouk, a young public relations professional, only managed to find a flight later in October, as all earlier routes had been fully booked. She intends to stay with her family in Riyadh to escape the chaos.

“I managed to get the last ticket available for Saudi Arabia. All flights to Jordan, Egypt, UAE or Turkey were all sold out,” Rola tells The New Arab.

“We also don’t know how long this will go on. I have a ticket booked for mid-October but things might get worse by then and all flights could be cancelled.

“We're hoping that at least our local airline [Middle East Airlines] won't cancel because even with everything that's going on, they have kept flights going, while other airlines were cancelling flights,” she adds.

“No one is sleeping. We’re getting into the routine of turning the TV on in the evening, staying up until 2 or 3 am, and watching where Israel is hitting. If over one night the strikes aren't as brutal, we become worried that Israel is planning for worse the next day?”

Beirut airport on high alert for attacks

At least one Israeli strike last week hit outside the perimeter of the airport, and Israel’s violent daily bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburb Dahiyeh, is only a road away from the airport.

Many people are now afraid to go to the airport even if they have flights booked.

In 2006, Israel purposefully destroyed the airport’s runways and continuously targeted the airport, cutting off all air access. Their recent threats of Israeli warplanes circling the airport, to “not allow enemy flights with weapons to land at the civilian airport in Beirut” — referencing a commercial flight from Iran that was forced to turn back — has led to fears they will once again take out the airport.

Several nations have already started evacuation flights for their citizens in Lebanon, using military aircraft or naval vessels to transport people to Cyprus or Turkey, and then onwards to their final destinations.

Racile Nahle was visiting family in Lebanon over the summer with her four-year-old son and Australian husband and stayed longer than intended due to an operation requiring recovery time. During her stay in the hospital, she had to give up her bed on September 17 as hospitals became overwhelmed with injured patients from the Israeli terrorist attack which blew up hundreds of pager and walky-talky devices.

“A few days after that, I looked at my husband and told him that I wanted to leave. Beirut is not safe as long as the Israelis are bombing. They're just using the name of Hezbollah to kill civilians,” says Racile.

“We started looking for a way out but all flights are [transiting] through different countries, and while my husband and son are Australians, I only have permanent residency, so I would need a visa to go through these countries. We’re now waiting to hear from the Australian government because we’re on the waitlist to evacuate," she reveals to The New Arab. 

“They told us we can only bring one carry-on case per person. It’s really hard to think that at any moment you just have to leave everything and go, but other people have lost their entire homes,” she adds.

“As a backup plan, we contacted someone in Tripoli, and they told us that there's a big boat that can take you to Turkey. From there we could go to Istanbul and fly to Sydney, so we booked the boat just in case.”

Luxury yachts and boats become lifelines for escape

With flights so scarce, there is now a high demand for sea routes out of the country, though no official routes exist.

Instead private yacht and boat companies — normally used for luxury vacations or parties — have started taking people from Dbayeh to Ayia Napa in Cyprus, which requires a Schengen visa to enter, or to Turkey's Mersin from Tripoli.

Mersin, 13 hours away by boat, is a more accessible option as it needs no visa, but Tripoli is a two to three-hour drive from Beirut, so most are leaving from Dbayeh, just outside central Beirut for the six-hour journey.

However, the prices for the yacht trips are eye-watering, costing anywhere between $1,600 and $2,000 per person, with only 10 passengers per vessel.

“We’re doing six trips a day to Aiya Napa," says Captain Elias Khawand, who owns Admiral Yachting Lebanon.

"We’ve been running for eight years, doing birthday and bachelor parties, but now there are many requests to go abroad because people can’t find flight tickets or are afraid to go to the airport,” he adds.

"We are the alternative exit for them. There are a lot of people who have jobs, and commitments abroad. There are a lot of people who are afraid for their children, or children who are afraid for their parents. So we’re running at full capacity.

“When we first started we were taking 14-16 passengers, but the ministry implemented a new rule that only 10 passengers are allowed now, for safety, so the price has gone up from $1,000 to $1,600,” he adds. “We have high running costs and very expensive insurance for these luxury yachts.”

The only other option available is travel by land, via buses to Amman, Jordan, where they can then get a flight out to other countries. This is more affordable at about $100, but very few buses run and the journey is long and tiring.

Though many people are still attempting to leave by any means necessary, many are unable to obtain the visas or the funds needed to secure a way out.

Others simply refuse to leave, preferring to wait out the war in ‘safer’ areas of the country in the hope that a ceasefire will be achieved. The severity of what may be considered Lebanon’s fourth mass exodus has yet to be seen.

Maghie Ghali is a British-Lebanese journalist based in Beirut. She worked for The Daily Star Lebanon and writes as a freelancer for several publications, including The National, Al Arabiya English, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye, on arts and culture/design, environment and humanitarian topics

Follow her on X: @mghali6