$1,800 a seat: luxury yachts evacuate people from Lebanon as flights dry up

A man preparing to flee Beirut by yacht, an option that is unaffordable for most Lebanese people. Photograph: Daniel Carde/Getty Images

The Princess 2010 yacht is an impressive specimen of a boat. Before the war, its gleaming white hull could be seen cruising Lebanon’s coastline, revellers making sure they enjoyed every inch of the 24-metre-long vessel they each paid $600 to ride.

Since Israel started an intense bombing campaign across wide swathes of Lebanon on 23 September, the Princess has been making a very different type of journey. The $1.3m craft has been ferrying families from Beirut to Cyprus, bottles of champagne replaced by hastily packed suitcases.