President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after meeting with Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, that he was directing the US government to allow all domestic airline carriers to fly directly to that country. All US flights were suspended in 1985 after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 from Athens, Greece, en route to Rome, Italy. The flight was forced to land in Beirut. During the 17-day ordeal, a US Navy diver was killed. Before flights to Lebanon could resume, US officials will need to conduct an extensive security review of the Beirut airport and certify its safety. It was unclear if US airlines would be willing to resume flights. The major US airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, have halted flights to nearby Tel Aviv, citing security concerns. The FAA said it "looks forward to working with airlines and our interagency partners to implement the President’s directive and support the safe return of flights to Lebanon." Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday that Trump's authorization for airlines to resume direct flights to Beirut presented a major opportunity for Lebanon's economy and connectivity with Washington. Welcoming the announcement, Salam said the move "represents a significant opportunity to enhance travel and connectivity between Lebanon and the United States, and to support the Lebanese economy". The US State Department currently has a "Do Not Travel" advisory for Lebanon for Americans, citing high tensions in the Middle East. In February, the government ordered non-emergency US government employees and family members to leave Lebanon, due to safety risks. Trump ordered the US Transportation Department to lift a ban on US passenger air service to Venezuela in January after the US captured the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation that month. Service resumed in late April after seven years, with an American Airlines flight from Miami to Caracas.
