How is Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines still flying amid rockets, missiles?

Commercial air travel has continued doggedly traversing the airspace over the Middle East, despite pilots seeing missiles flying through the air from their cockpits.

Drones, rockets and missiles have crisscrossed the sky since Israel’s assault on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, followed by its assault on Lebanon a year later.

The most remarkable among regional airlines may well be Lebanon’s carrier and only remaining link with the outside world: MEA, or Middle East Airlines, which has kept flying under the harshest circumstances.

Given that the war is continuing, how and why are airlines still insisting on flying?

Here’s what you need to know:

Are pilots really seeing missiles fly by?

On October 1, Iran launched about 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for a series of assassinations Israel had perpetrated.

Airlines were not prepared, including an Air France Paris-Dubai flight that was above Iraq at the time.

Its pilots could see missiles hurtling across the sky.

Iraqi air traffic control could do nothing more than wish them luck.

So why are airlines still flying across the region?

There is not much choice for certain routes, experts say.

Since the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, which killed all 298 passengers and crew over eastern Ukraine, the available routes between Europe and Southeast Asia have been squeezed, Ian Petchenik, director of communications at Flightradar24, told Al Jazeera.

The incident led to many commercial airlines avoiding eastern Ukraine.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the airspace over the whole of Ukraine was closed, with many Western airlines opting to avoid Russia’s and Belarus’s airspace as well.

Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon further reduced the airspace available.

Is it dangerous to fly?

Commercial aircraft should be safe if they are on an approved flight path.

This is because all air traffic controllers will have the best interest of civilians in mind, even if their countries are not talking to each other, Andrew Charlton, director of the Aviation Advocacy consulting firm, said.

Individual airlines also take some matters into their own hands.

“Airlines have had very good relations with the countries they fly to and over,” aviation expert Paul Beaver told Al Jazeera.

Beaver also said that technology and protocols, which include extra fuel in case of diversion, ensure commercial air travel in the region remains safe.

During the October 1 attack, pilots would simply have had to push a couple of buttons to set course on a predetermined alternative route, he said.

However, Charlton says, flying over the area still includes a “calculated risk” based on an airline’s security team’s assessment.

The view from a humanitarian airdrop over Gaza City by the Royal Jordanian Air Force in March 2024. The flight was guided over the outskirts of Tel Aviv and along Israel’s coast by Israeli air traffic control [File: Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

What happens when a country closes its airspace?

Rerouting, although that comes with its problems.

For example, flights during an uptick in tensions around Israel or Lebanon are often rerouted over the Sinai Peninsula or Cairo, leaving Egyptian air traffic control to deal with juggling them.

Petchenik said a sudden closure of airspace across the region can threaten to “overload” one country’s capacity to manage air traffic.

Closing airspace also has a financial impact, with countries losing vital tax revenue and risking scaring off airlines from flying to destinations within their borders.

Control over airspace can also be a political tool. On Sunday, for example, Turkey denied Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s request to use its airspace for his flight to attend the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Are the missiles the only danger?

No.

Israel is using GPS spoofing to transmit fake signals to aircraft. If you are in the region, it is not unusual for your GPS location to suddenly show you in the wrong city or country.

Spoofing simply requires sending bad data to a GPS tracker rather than overpowering a signal, which occurs in GPS jamming.

Petchenik said airlines are now acquainted with the practice and use alternate navigation systems when it occurs, but it has caused some alarm when it managed to confuse aircraft systems and trigger false terrain warnings.

What about Israel’s airline?

Israel has equipped its commercial aircraft with anti-missile systems since 2004.

The “flight guard” system includes a radar tool that detects incoming missiles and fires flares to deflect them.

According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, each unit costs about $1m.

Other airlines and aircraft are reported to have similar systems on board, especially aircraft that carry heads of state and other VIPs, but the number is not known.

OK, but let’s talk about MEA. How is it still flying?

MEA has continued flying daily, a source of admiration and pride for many Lebanese.

Striking images have spread of MEA aircraft, taking off and landing from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport amid plumes of smoke caused by Israeli strikes.

At the Beirut International International airport; btwn the missiles at the gates, the serenity inside, the lonely & sparse flights (thank you heroes of @MEAAIRLIBAN), we at @ifrc & @RedCrossLebanon carve out a humanitarian path to deliver, always. Tough times! pic.twitter.com/mDKcaKP4y5

— Hossam Elsharkawi حسام (@elsharkawi) November 12, 2024

MEA pilot Mohammed Aziz told Al Jazeera high-level executives spend about five hours each day determining whether it is safe to fly into and out of Beirut.

“We’ve had some very good reassurance from the government, from major foreign embassies, that the Beirut airport, as long as it is used for civilian purposes, will be set aside from the conflict,” he added.