Saudi Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Walid Bukhari and UAE Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamad Bin Saeed al-Shamsi, announced on Thursday the presence of serious efforts to stimulate the return of Gulf tourists to Lebanon, stressing that the first signs of such decision could appear this summer, following the May parliamentary elections.
The diplomats’ comments came during a ceremony welcoming the arrival of an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner, at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport on Thursday, in a flight coming from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Bukhari told reporters that Saudi Arabia was reviewing advice to citizens against travelling to Lebanon, adding that a decision would be based on security indications.
Al-Shamsi echoed Bukhari’s comments by revealing the presence of similar efforts to revive the comeback of Gulf tourists to Lebanon.
“We expect that executive measures would be taken in this regard during next summer, following the Parliamentary elections scheduled for May 6,” he said.
Lebanese senior officials awaited the plane’s arrival at the airport on Thursday.
Lebanon’s Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos described the ceremony as “historic,” adding that it was the first time Beirut’s airport welcomes such kind of airplanes.
Owned by UAE’s Emirates Airline, the double-decker passenger plane requires airports specially equipped to allow over 500 passengers to disembark from both decks, a characteristic still not carried out at the Beirut airport.
Fenianos said that expansion plans for Beirut airport would ensure that A380 planes are properly accommodated.
“The arrival of the biggest airplane to Beirut is a symbol of cooperation between the UAE and Lebanon and between the UAE’s Airline and the civil aviation in Lebanon,” the minister said.
The Airbus arrived to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport for the first time, to test the operations and infrastructure required to accommodate an A380 service.
