Al Bawaba

Lebanon's Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos signed an agreement Friday with MEA chairman Mohammad al-Hout to prepare the necessary studies for the expansion of Rafik Hariri International Airport, said a statement issued by the ministry. “Fenianos signed an agreement with Hout whereby Middle East Airlines donated $675,000 to the Public Works Ministry to prepare a study for the expansion of the airport,” the statement said. Fenianos said MEA would donate the cost of preparing the needed study to the Public Works Ministry because the state could not pay the amount due to the deficit in its budget. Officials have on many occasions called upon the government to expand the airport so it could accommodate more travelers.

“The airport can currently accommodate 5 million passengers while the number of passengers at RHIA surpassed 9 million, which necessitates the implementation of such a strategy,” Fenianos said. “With the implementation of the new strategy we would be having more space to park our planes in addition to more stations and more halls to receive visitors,” he said. The statement said that Dar al-Handasah would be implementing the new project. “The new project will enable the airport to receive a bigger number of passengers which may go up from 6 million to 12 million in the future and may even increase to 18 million,” said Riad Mneimneh, director general of Dar al Handasah.