Beirut International Airport was plunged into chaos on Tuesday morning due to several technical breakdowns and staff shortages.
A Lebanese expatriate returning to Paris told This is Beirut, “Scanners, baggage scales, belt conveyors, and air conditioning are all out of order. Only three scanners are operational for thousands of passengers, and there are hardly any staff or security guards. It’s a real nightmare!” She added, “Travelers are outraged by this lack of organization and poor maintenance, and a number of quarrels have broken out. Some people have been queuing in front of airline counters for over two hours, in suffocating heat.”
This is not the first time that the Beirut International Airport has had to deal with this kind of situation, particularly around the start of the school year and the end of summer vacation. However, airport management insists that security and logistical arrangements have been put in place to cope with the influx of tourists and expatriates, to guarantee optimal travel conditions, and speed up baggage and passport control procedures.
The Director General of Civil Aviation, Fadi Hassan, tried to downplay the importance of what is happening at the airport. In an interview with al-Jadeed TV channel, he said that “the queues of travelers are normal for this time of year, and that the air conditioning system is working and there are no breakdowns.” However, videos obtained by This is Beirut dispute that. They show a suffocating crowd packed around the only three operating scanners.
Caretaker Minister of Tourism, Walid Nassar, reacted immediately by calling on the concerned ministries and institutions to hold an extraordinary meeting to implement the necessary measures to ensure a smooth flow of arrivals and departures at the airport.
At the start of the summer season, the Ministry of Tourism declared that over 1.7 million travelers were expected to visit Lebanon.