Hamieh optimistic following Beirut airport tour

Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh toured Beirut airport on Friday morning, promising a normal holiday season and expressing optimism that traffic in Lebanon will run smoothly during the period.

"Everyone will be at the service of citizens, expatriates and people of all nationalities who will visit Lebanon during the holidays, to facilitate things at all levels," Hamieh promised, in remarks reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

"The work was able to continue during the war because everyone followed the same specifications, that of Lebanese law and patriotic sentiment," said the minister, who then thanked the various actors: The General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the Internal Security Forces (ISF), the Lebanese army, and also the national airline Middle East Airlines (MEA) "which did not stop its flights during the war" between Hezbollah and Israel, which was stopped by a cease-fire agreement that came into force on Nov. 27.

"Almost all airlines have resumed their flights, and we have asked other companies to approve the resumption of their trips, for which we have given our agreement," Ali Hamieh added. The minister also stated that "development works" at the airport would resume, "especially at check-in, to try to shorten the traveler's waiting time."

The caretaker minister also raised the issue of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iraq, who had taken refuge there after fleeing the war in Lebanon. He said the problem was linked to changes in the rules of Syrian airspace after the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8.

Between Sept. 26 and Dec. 1, only MEA maintained its departures and arrivals from the airport, while the war between Hezbollah and Israel raged, with massive Israeli bombings on the southern suburbs, where the infrastructure is located. The airport was never hit, however, despite the proximity of some strikes. The other companies gradually resumed their flights once the ceasefire was concluded.