Qatar Airways Bans Pagers and Walkie-Talkies from Flights from Beirut
Photo: Falcons Spotters / Shutterstock.com
Effective immediately, Qatar Airways is banning all passengers from bringing walkie-talkies and pagers onboard its flights from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY).
The ban applies to both check-in and carry-on luggage, along with cargo. There’s no date for the ban to expire, either, as Qatar says it “will be enforced until further notice.
“Following the directive received from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Lebanon, all passengers flying from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) are prohibited from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on board flights,” the airline said in a message to passengers on Thursday.
Qatar is the only airline to make the move and is only doing so from Beruit at the moment.
The ban comes in the wake of the so-called “trojan-horse blasts” in Beruit and Lebanon this week, when pagers used by the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party Hezbollah blew up, widely believed to be a result of an Israeli military order. Two sets of blasts killed more than 50 people and injured thousands more.
