Lebanon will always be home

For months, Lebanese Australians planning to spend the northern summer in Lebanon did not know whether their trips would go ahead.

War, regional tensions and repeated changes to international flights since late February have left travellers facing cancellations, altered routes and uncertainty. Despite it all, members of Australia’s Lebanese community are continuing to make the journey home.

They are part of a wider summer return that brings members of Lebanon’s global diaspora back each year to reunite with family, reconnect with their heritage and support the country’s struggling economy.

Among them is Andre Safi, who said the greatest concern was getting there, rather than the situation in the areas he planned to visit.

“I understand that the conflict is isolated to certain areas, and I know the biggest risk for me is probably flight or airport disruptions rather than where I’m actually going,” he said.

“For me, there are some decisions in life that you’ll always regret if you don’t make them when you have the chance. Spending time with your family, especially as they get older, is one of those things.”

Safi said seeing flights continue to operate, and daily life carry on in Lebanon, ultimately convinced him to proceed.

“Knowing that flights are still operating and that life is continuing for so many people in Lebanon made me feel that I would regret not going far more than I would regret going.”

Lebanese-Australian singer Alexandra Younes also never abandoned her plans.

“Being a child of immigrants, my parents have always travelled to and from Lebanon regardless of the circumstances,” she said.

“Now, more than ever, I feel as though we never know when the last time we travel to Lebanon will be, and with half our family still living there, it’s a no brainer.”

For Younes, the journey is about more than taking a holiday.

“Lebanon is our home. For many of us abroad, the only reason we were born/grew up abroad is because our parents had no choice but to leave,” she said.

“It defines how we were raised, and how we exist in this world; there’s no place like it.”

Stephanie Moussa had promised herself she would return after visiting Lebanon last year. However, the escalating situation left her questioning whether another trip would be possible.

“Between October last year and May this year, the situation continued to escalate, and I began questioning whether the trip would be feasible, sensible, or even safe,” she said.

“For a while, I lost hope that it would happen.”

She decided to wait until closer to August before making a final call, but remained determined to travel if she could.

“I decided to come to Lebanon because, like so many others who feel the same way, I believe you only live once,” Moussa said.

“And there is a solution; book your trip and leave it in God's hands - in other words if it gets really bad then the airline will cancel your ticket and the decision is made for you.”

Moussa also saw the trip as an opportunity to direct her spending back into Lebanon.

“I was planning to travel this year regardless, so I asked myself: what better way to spend my time and money than by investing it back into my own country?,” she said.

“If I could contribute, even in a small way, to supporting the local economy, then I wanted to do that.”

While comprehensive figures for the 2026 summer are not yet available, passenger data from last year shows the scale of Lebanon’s seasonal return.

More than 873,000 passengers passed through Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport in July 2025, the airport’s busiest month of the year. It included 474,273 arrivals, up 15.3% from July 2024.

The summer surge continued into September, when the airport recorded almost 682,000 passengers — a 40.4% increase compared with the same month one year earlier.

Overall, 5.41 million passengers moved through the airport during the first nine months of 2025, up 10.2% year-on-year but still below pre-crisis levels recorded in 2023.

For the travellers returning this year, the pull of Lebanon has proved stronger than the uncertainty surrounding the journey.

“This trip isn’t about ticking destinations off a list. It’s about reconnecting—with my roots, my faith, my people, and a way of life that reminds me what truly matters,” Moussa said.

“No matter where life takes me, Lebanon will always be home. Every visit reminds me not only of where I come from, but also of who I am.”