Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during a visit to Beirut International Airport, June 23, 2023. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — A series of measures aimed at controlling the heavy influx of passengers at Beirut's International Airport were announced Monday, following a meeting held at the Grand Serail in the presence of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
During maintenance work, 12 additional employees will be hired. Additional scanners will be installed and more counters at the General Security will open to speed up departure and arrival procedures. The measures come following a wave of criticism in recent weeks.
General Security officers are responsible for checking passports and residence visas on arrival and departure.
"The General Security has decided to deploy twelve officials to guide travelers, prior to the inspection of their passports," so that, once in line for this process, the time spent waiting and checking documents "takes no more than 25 to 30 minutes," caretaker Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said after the meeting.
"The General Security will provide technical maintenance for counters and computers, so that we can use all the equipment available, on arrival and departure," Hamieh added.
With regard to customs, the Transport Minister assured that two additional lanes will open to relieve congestion. As for the lack of carts, this will have to be resolved by the Middle East Airline, which will discuss the matter with the company concerned.
Seven scanners are in use at the airport, according to Hamieh, who promised to have two additional scanners repaired for use.
The airport's air-conditioning system, which is often defunct even in the midst of summer, will soon be back in operation thanks to an additional generator, according to the minister.
At the height of each tourist season, travelers complain of long queues and delays at checkpoints. Some passengers also complain that the airport does not use all the equipment or counters at its disposal.
36,000 passengers a day
"The number of departures yesterday [Sunday] reached almost 17,000 passengers. Arrivals were around 21,000," said Hamieh.
"We now have an average of 36,000 passengers a day," he said, assuring that "the [current] influx of tourists and Lebanese from the diaspora is unprecedented since 2018."
Built in 1998, the airport's current and only terminal can handle 6 million passengers a year. This capacity has been repeatedly exceeded since 2013, according to airport figures, with a peak of 8.8 million passengers in 2018 and 7.2 million expected this year.
Latest official figures show passenger numbers at Beirut airport reached 2.5 million at the end of May, compared with 2 million during the same period in 2022, a 25 percent year-on-year increase.
Last March, the caretaker Minister of Transport was forced to abandon a controversial airport expansion project after criticism over a direct agreement with an Irish company without going through the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
The economic crisis, which has ravaged the country for three years now, has affected the airport's operations.
Asked about the possibility of increasing the salaries of airport employees, Hamieh explained that such a move is not easy to implement.
"Beirut airport's revenues amount to $250 million in cash, but [the airport] is a public administration and its revenues are sent to the treasury and used to offset the budget deficit and pay the salaries of the civil service, pensioners, the military and the administration. A portion is also paid to Electricité du Liban," he said.
"[Airport staff] are suffering from the financial crisis," Hamieh said. Despite this, they "continue to work."