Trump lifts four-decade ban on direct U.S. flights to Lebanon

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House. The move would end a prohibition that has stood since 1985, when the United States suspended the route after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

Reuters said Trump was directing his administration to let all U.S. airline carriers fly directly to Lebanon. The original hijacking began after the flight left Athens, Greece, bound for Rome, Italy, and was forced to land in Beirut. ABC News and The Associated Press said the route was suspended under President Ronald Reagan, giving the ban more than four decades of political and security weight.

The decision immediately carries economic and diplomatic value for Lebanon, where direct service from the United States has long been absent. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the move, calling it a significant opportunity to boost Lebanon. Direct flights would most clearly benefit Lebanese diaspora families, business travelers, and airlines that could tap a new market without routing passengers through third-country hubs.

It also signals a shift in how Washington is willing to engage Beirut. A White House meeting between Trump and Aoun produced the announcement, putting the decision in the context of broader U.S.-Lebanese diplomacy rather than a standalone aviation tweak. For Lebanon, where economic strain has made reliable international links more valuable, the return of nonstop U.S. service could ease travel access and sharpen business ties.

The ban’s history makes the reversal politically notable. It was born from a hijacking that became one of the defining security episodes linking U.S. aviation policy to Lebanon, and its removal now rests on the argument that normal commercial air service can be separated from that past. That is why the announcement lands as more than a travel change: it marks a renewed U.S. willingness to restore a direct route that had been closed since the Reagan era.