16 September 2006

BEIRUT: Rafik Hariri International Airport has resumed its normal activities, with thousands of Lebanese who fled the country during the recent fighting with Israel returning home. "I can say that 90 percent of the passengers coming to Beirut's airport are Lebanese and the rest are from the Arab states," Hamdi Shouk, the director general of Civil Aviation, told The Daily Star.

Shouk added that arrivals had exceeded departures since the airport reopened.

The airport reopened 10 days ago after more than eight weeks of Israeli blockade on Lebanon.

To increase pressure on the government, at the beginning of the war Israeli warplanes bombed all the runways at the airport, which had been expecting more than 1.6 million tourists to come to Lebanon this summer.

The Public Works Ministry repaired most of the damage once the hostilities ceased.

Shouk said that at least 85 percent of the Arab and foreign airlines resumed operations to and from the airport. He added that 54 airlines flew to Beirut airport before July 12.

"We have few foreigners coming in but we hope this will improve in the near future."

The chairman of Middle East Airlines (MEA), Mohammad Hout, said the majority of the passengers who are coming to the airport are Lebanese who fled the country during the war.

"There are over 300,000 Lebanese who left the country during the war and many of them have decided to come back," Hout said.

He added that between 70 and 80 percent of MEA's incoming flights are occupied.

"The number of passengers coming to Beirut is not indication that the airport activity is back to normal," he said.

MEA's chairman said it would take some time before tourists decide to return to Lebanon.

"What we want now is political and security stability so that tourists will be more encouraged to come back."

MEA suffered $45 million in direct and indirect losses during the war and blockade after achieving handsome profits over the past four years.

The Tourism Ministry said earlier it plans to launch a wide campaign to promote Lebanon abroad but tour operators say Arab and foreign tourists will probably wait until the political situation in Lebanon is clearer.

They added that hardly any Arab tourists are making reservations this month.

Shouk said that the security at the airport was beefed up with more monitoring equipment but denied reports that German security officials are personally observing the security procedures: "Our people are handling all the security matters at the airport but the only new thing we are doing is receiving new cameras and radar screens."