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:

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.

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.

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.