Government buys up seats on flights out of Lebanon to help Britons escape

Officials in talks with the only company still flying out of Beirut in an effort to increase capacity as Israeli troops mass on the border

The Government is buying seats on flights out of Lebanon to help British people flee over fears that the Middle East is teetering on the brink of all-out war.
Officials are in talks with Middle East Airlines – the only company still flying out of Beirut – to try to increase capacity.
Although it is believed that fewer than 100 seats will be available to buy, the Foreign Office does not believe there are a large number of UK citizens who want to escape.
The Government is also considering chartering a flight if that is necessary.
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We’re doing everything we can to work with commercial airlines to maximise capacity because we want people to leave, and I understand that there have been extra Middle East Airlines flights leaving Lebanon over the weekend, another scheduled for Tuesday, and we have secured seats for British nationals on those flights.”
It comes as Israeli troops gather on the border of Lebanon and Hezbollah demands revenge for the assassination of its leader.
The available flights will not be direct to London, but will go to other locations such as Athens or Istanbul.
The UK hopes to buy the seats and sell them on to Britons wishing to evacuate, acting as guarantors.
The Foreign Office is also investigating options for “assisted departure” via a chartered flight.
Officials believe that there are not hundreds of British people desperate to get out. Many have stayed for good reasons, such as having family or other ties in the area.
It means there are fewer Britons in the country than in the summer, when many were there on holiday.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman reiterated the Government’s call for Britons to leave the country.
He said: “The Prime Minister has been very, very clear that British nationals should leave now, particularly whilst commercial flights are still available.
“What we’re focused on at the moment is securing extra spaces on commercial flights for those who do want to leave and reiterating our calls for those to leave and to register their presence with us and book the first available flights.
“We’re also working to send a rapid deployment team to bolster the efforts of our embassy in supporting British nationals who want to leave.”
Asked why an evacuation has not started, the spokesman said: “We’ve been clear, whilst there are commercial flights available, British nationals can and, indeed, should leave.”
The spokesman also pointed to the deployment of 700 troops, alongside Border Force and Foreign Office officials, to Cyprus to continue work on “all contingency options and plan for a range of scenarios in the region”.