Trump's move to restore direct Lebanon flights raises diaspora hopes

Trump's move to restore direct Lebanon flights raises diaspora hopes Submitted by Adam Chamseddine on Sun, 07/26/2026 - 14:10 After Lebanese president’s White House visit aviation officials say route reopening is still months away A Middle East Airlines plane prepares to take off from Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, 11 April 2014 (Patrick Baz/AFP) Off For more than four decades, direct flights between the United States and Lebanon remained suspended, a legacy of the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the killing of a US Navy diver during the subsequent 17-day hostage crisis. The ban outlasted Lebanon’s civil war, repeated attempts at political normalisation and the large-scale growth of Lebanese communities across North America. That may now be changing.