Cypriot company Tus Air banned from Lebanese skies
Tus Air aircraft (illustration image). © Lazaros327, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Lebanon's air transport regulator has banned Cypriot airline Tus Air from using Beirut International Airport or flying over Lebanese territory. A measure came after the acquisition of nearly 50% of the shares of the Cypriot company by Israeli capital.
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With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
The decision to close Lebanese airspace to the Cypriot company Tus Air was taken within the framework of the Boycott of Israel Law.
In 1951, the Arab League called on member states to prohibit all kinds of political, economic, commercial and cultural relations with Israel. Lebanon was one of the first Arab countries to adopt its legislation at the decision of the League in 1955. The approved law is very strict and punishes any contact, even individually, between Lebanese and Israeli citizens.
No easing in sight
In the wake of the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel encouraged by the United States, many Gulf and North African states have relaxed their laws. In 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalized diplomatic relations. Last March, they signed a customs agreement in anticipation of the entry into force of a free trade agreement, the first of its kind between the Jewish state and an Arab country.
Saudi Arabia, too, has timidly embarked on the path of normalizationby opening its airspace to Israeli commercial aircraft last July.
Lebanon is therefore one of the few Arab countries to apply the law of boycott of Israel to the letter today. A few weeks ago, two Ukrainian companies with Israeli capital were banned from any activity in Lebanon.
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Read on on the same topics:
- Lebanon
- Transport
- Israel
- Cyprus