LONDON – Aegean Airlines, the national flag carrier of Greece has decided to halt its flight operations to and from Beirut, Lebanon temporarily.
This comes after engineers found significant damage on the fuselage of the aircraft that has recently done a rotation flight to the airport.
The temporary halt to and from Beirut has come into effect on 15th January 2022, after the airline confirmed to the media houses that the team of Aegean Airlines engineers and maintenance crew found significant damages to the external fuselage on one of the Airbus A320 after the aircraft landed at Beirut – Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) on 10th January 2022.
The exact type of damage is yet to be disclosed by the Aegean.
Meanwhile, in the strange turn of events, multiple reports have been going viral on social media, which were later reported by the Lebanese media that, the Aegean Airbus A320 could have been the victim of flying bullets which has damaged the fuselage.
However, The Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Ali Hamie has denied any news of possible gunfire that could have caused the damages to the aircraft.
The Lebanese authorities have found the hole in the left rear cockpit window, but on deeper examination, the authorities have established that the damage was not caused by the bullets.
The report and chatter were shared on the official Twitter handle by Minister Ali Hamie himself on 15th January 2022, which read:
“After close examination, it was determined that the damage was not the result of a bullet. The pictures of the hole and the gate were also sent through the World Aviation Forum (WAF) in Washington DC to the appropriate organizations who confirmed that the hole is not the result of a bullet nor Gate 15. It was most probably caused by ground equipment before the aircraft arrival to Beirut.”
However, Aegean Airlines has decided to suspend all its flights to and from Beirut on the grounds of safety and security, until further investigation takes its due course.
This is a developing story.
