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Overflying Chaos, Warnings Fade Into Background Noise of a Region’s Unrest Opting to Avoid a Detour, Passengers Brave a War Zone’s Skies
(about 5 hours later)
ABOARD MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES FLIGHT 312, OVER SYRIA — From a plane wheeling east at 30,000 feet, leaving behind the hills and patchwork farms of Lebanon, the Syrian desert ripples to the horizon like a tide-sculpted beach.ABOARD MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES FLIGHT 312, OVER SYRIA — From a plane wheeling east at 30,000 feet, leaving behind the hills and patchwork farms of Lebanon, the Syrian desert ripples to the horizon like a tide-sculpted beach.
Somewhere off to the south is the capital, Damascus, where government warplanes bombard rebellious suburbs and insurgent mortar shells fly toward the city center. To the north is Homs, its center crushed to rubble from years of fighting, and further ahead lies Deir al-Zour, the desert province where American fighter jets bomb oil wells run by Islamic State militants.Somewhere off to the south is the capital, Damascus, where government warplanes bombard rebellious suburbs and insurgent mortar shells fly toward the city center. To the north is Homs, its center crushed to rubble from years of fighting, and further ahead lies Deir al-Zour, the desert province where American fighter jets bomb oil wells run by Islamic State militants.
None of this chaos below appears to faze the passengers aboard this flight from Beirut, Lebanon, to Amman, Jordan. Middle East Airlines, a Lebanese carrier, is one of the few that still routinely cross Syrian airspace. Many regulars, this reporter included, choose the flight because, even detouring slightly from its prewar path to avoid Damascus, it takes just 70 minutes, 40 less than other airlines’ roundabout routes.None of this chaos below appears to faze the passengers aboard this flight from Beirut, Lebanon, to Amman, Jordan. Middle East Airlines, a Lebanese carrier, is one of the few that still routinely cross Syrian airspace. Many regulars, this reporter included, choose the flight because, even detouring slightly from its prewar path to avoid Damascus, it takes just 70 minutes, 40 less than other airlines’ roundabout routes.
Passengers lucky enough to have a row of seats to themselves lie down for catnaps, ignoring the flight attendants bearing cheese sandwiches and olives. Children peer over the seats, and businessmen and United Nations officials shuffle through paperwork. Syrian passengers exiled by war track the plane’s path across the map on their seat-back monitors, and on clear afternoons peer wistfully out the window as if hoping to catch glimpses of home.Passengers lucky enough to have a row of seats to themselves lie down for catnaps, ignoring the flight attendants bearing cheese sandwiches and olives. Children peer over the seats, and businessmen and United Nations officials shuffle through paperwork. Syrian passengers exiled by war track the plane’s path across the map on their seat-back monitors, and on clear afternoons peer wistfully out the window as if hoping to catch glimpses of home.
Recently, on a night flight, the pilot declared, “We are now flying over an unstable area. Please return to your seats.” He was referring not to politics or military maneuvers below, but to air turbulence.Recently, on a night flight, the pilot declared, “We are now flying over an unstable area. Please return to your seats.” He was referring not to politics or military maneuvers below, but to air turbulence.
Last month, the United States Embassy in Beirut issued a warning exhorting American citizens to avoid commercial flights over Syria, and prohibited its own staff from taking them — an understandable concern after the downing in July of a Malaysian airliner by a missile over another conflict zone, Ukraine.Last month, the United States Embassy in Beirut issued a warning exhorting American citizens to avoid commercial flights over Syria, and prohibited its own staff from taking them — an understandable concern after the downing in July of a Malaysian airliner by a missile over another conflict zone, Ukraine.
Yet for many of Middle East Airlines’s frequent fliers, such warnings tend to fade into the background noise of the region’s perennial conflict.Yet for many of Middle East Airlines’s frequent fliers, such warnings tend to fade into the background noise of the region’s perennial conflict.
Air traffic out of Beirut nowadays is rather safe compared with the civil war years, when hijackings were routine: whether by the Shiite militants who killed a United States Navy diver aboard TWA Flight 847 in 1985 and tossed him out on the tarmac, or the disgruntled pilot who demanded a promotion and warmer winter coats for airport workers.Air traffic out of Beirut nowadays is rather safe compared with the civil war years, when hijackings were routine: whether by the Shiite militants who killed a United States Navy diver aboard TWA Flight 847 in 1985 and tossed him out on the tarmac, or the disgruntled pilot who demanded a promotion and warmer winter coats for airport workers.
The Beirut terminal is nothing like the one in the 1980s. It sparkles with Christmas lights and shops selling Chanel cosmetics, jeweled slippers and baklava. Passengers wait at gates for flights to the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, to Dubai, to Riyadh, many of which also fly over Syria without ado.The Beirut terminal is nothing like the one in the 1980s. It sparkles with Christmas lights and shops selling Chanel cosmetics, jeweled slippers and baklava. Passengers wait at gates for flights to the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, to Dubai, to Riyadh, many of which also fly over Syria without ado.
Taking off for Amman, the plane flies north along the Lebanese coast, then turns east over green mountains clustered with villas and apartment buildings. It crosses the Bekaa Valley, from which Hezbollah fighters entered Syria to help the government retake the town of Qusayr, and over Syria’s Qalamoun mountains, which still shelter insurgents.Taking off for Amman, the plane flies north along the Lebanese coast, then turns east over green mountains clustered with villas and apartment buildings. It crosses the Bekaa Valley, from which Hezbollah fighters entered Syria to help the government retake the town of Qusayr, and over Syria’s Qalamoun mountains, which still shelter insurgents.
The seat-back screens play a montage promoting an advertiser’s version of Lebanese attractions: cedar forests and pistachio sweets, yes, but also lavish wedding venues and plastic surgery clinics, where clients can recover in rooms decked out like hotel suites. Passengers flip through complimentary newspapers for the latest Lebanese news. (“Six Soldiers Martyred in Jihadi Ambush.”)The seat-back screens play a montage promoting an advertiser’s version of Lebanese attractions: cedar forests and pistachio sweets, yes, but also lavish wedding venues and plastic surgery clinics, where clients can recover in rooms decked out like hotel suites. Passengers flip through complimentary newspapers for the latest Lebanese news. (“Six Soldiers Martyred in Jihadi Ambush.”)
On one recent flight, Joseph Kmid, an interior designer, was heading to decorate a new duty-free shop at Amman’s gleaming and expanding airport. Furman al-Shukri was traveling for his clothing business. Asked if they had any fears of flying, both seemed almost surprised.On one recent flight, Joseph Kmid, an interior designer, was heading to decorate a new duty-free shop at Amman’s gleaming and expanding airport. Furman al-Shukri was traveling for his clothing business. Asked if they had any fears of flying, both seemed almost surprised.
“My problem is that business is bad,” Mr. Shukri said, complaining that three years of conflict had shuttered Syrian textile factories and dampened the market.“My problem is that business is bad,” Mr. Shukri said, complaining that three years of conflict had shuttered Syrian textile factories and dampened the market.
The risks of the flight, and the hardships of those who can afford a $250 round-trip ticket, seem insignificant compared with those facing Syrians stuck on the ground: cities and economies in ruins; more than 200,000 killed; and more than three million refugees, one million of them in Lebanon, another 620,000 in Jordan.The risks of the flight, and the hardships of those who can afford a $250 round-trip ticket, seem insignificant compared with those facing Syrians stuck on the ground: cities and economies in ruins; more than 200,000 killed; and more than three million refugees, one million of them in Lebanon, another 620,000 in Jordan.
The war in Syria and the hair-raising consular travel advisories for Lebanon include risks of rocket attacks, suicide bombs, clashes between the authorities and “criminal elements,” and hostilities that could erupt at any time between militant groups and Israel, just to name a few.The war in Syria and the hair-raising consular travel advisories for Lebanon include risks of rocket attacks, suicide bombs, clashes between the authorities and “criminal elements,” and hostilities that could erupt at any time between militant groups and Israel, just to name a few.
All of those dangers exist on the ground, and yet the list of potential calamities belies the day-to-day experience in Lebanon of noisy construction sites and traffic jams, shiny shopping malls and muddy farms. It is a country where, despite the refugee crisis and conflict on the border, rich and poor commute to work and school, rarely coming into direct contact with anything more menacing than a police checkpoint.All of those dangers exist on the ground, and yet the list of potential calamities belies the day-to-day experience in Lebanon of noisy construction sites and traffic jams, shiny shopping malls and muddy farms. It is a country where, despite the refugee crisis and conflict on the border, rich and poor commute to work and school, rarely coming into direct contact with anything more menacing than a police checkpoint.
After landing in Amman one recent evening, a flight attendant opined that the safety warnings were “all political, to make Syria look bad,” and that the airline’s Saudi, Emirati and Jordanian competitors avoided Syrian airspace because they feared government warplanes might take revenge for those countries’ support for the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad.After landing in Amman one recent evening, a flight attendant opined that the safety warnings were “all political, to make Syria look bad,” and that the airline’s Saudi, Emirati and Jordanian competitors avoided Syrian airspace because they feared government warplanes might take revenge for those countries’ support for the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad.
“We are not going to waste our lives and the pilot’s life,” added the flight attendant, who makes two runs over Syria daily and declined to give her name because she was not authorized to speak for the airline. She said passengers often asked, “Is it safe?” But she doubts they are that scared, she said, or they would not be on the plane.“We are not going to waste our lives and the pilot’s life,” added the flight attendant, who makes two runs over Syria daily and declined to give her name because she was not authorized to speak for the airline. She said passengers often asked, “Is it safe?” But she doubts they are that scared, she said, or they would not be on the plane.
Indeed, Irina Prentice, a United Nations official who regularly takes the flight, said that when Syrian insurgents began shooting down helicopters and the occasional low-flying warplane two years ago, she had second thoughts about her itinerary. But they lasted only until it was time to buy her next ticket.Indeed, Irina Prentice, a United Nations official who regularly takes the flight, said that when Syrian insurgents began shooting down helicopters and the occasional low-flying warplane two years ago, she had second thoughts about her itinerary. But they lasted only until it was time to buy her next ticket.
United Nations officials shuttling to and from Damascus, where their hotel, the Four Seasons, has been shelled, think of the flight as the least of their worries.United Nations officials shuttling to and from Damascus, where their hotel, the Four Seasons, has been shelled, think of the flight as the least of their worries.
On a recent flight, looking down at the dry land striped with the gray lines of roads and occasional clusters of cube-like houses, Ms. Prentice recalled, her main emotion was sadness. She said she looked forward to the day she could look down from the air “knowing that the war came to an end.”On a recent flight, looking down at the dry land striped with the gray lines of roads and occasional clusters of cube-like houses, Ms. Prentice recalled, her main emotion was sadness. She said she looked forward to the day she could look down from the air “knowing that the war came to an end.”