BEIRUT - Lebanon is studying an interim plan to expand Beirut's international airport for about $200 million, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The plan would increase capacity at the country's only international airport to about 10 million passengers a year from about 6 million a year now, the statement said.

The expansion would involve redesigning the passenger terminal and turning an old, unused customs shed and hangar into another terminal. No schedule was given for the plan.

The government is also considering a longer-term plan to rebuild the airport for a capacity of 20 million passengers a year.

In 2016, the government agreed funding for new safety equipment at the airport, where security gaps had caused concern.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall, editing by Larry King) ((angus.mcdowall@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: angus.mcdowall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))