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Lebanon's airline cancels flights to Baghdad

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lebanon's National Air Carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) canceled Tuesday flights to Baghdad after a plane from Dubai came under fire as it landed in the Iraqi capital a day earlier.

A short statement by MEA said that the company "canceled the flights to and from the Iraqi capital for Tuesday given the circumstances at Baghdad International Airport."

MEA had only one scheduled flight to Baghdad at noon and another flight from there to Beirut in the afternoon.

MEA's statement came after Dubai government-backed discount carrier FlyDubai confirmed that it was the airline involved in the shooting on Monday night.

It said small-arms fire damaged the plane's fuselage and that no passengers needed medical attention, pointing that it canceled its only flight to Baghdad on Tuesday.

Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways separately said they are suspending flights to Iraq until further notice.

Baghdad International Airport is surrounded by a vast and heavily guarded security perimeter lined with concrete blast walls, making it difficult for insurgents to fire on incoming planes. Endit