The head of Beirut International Airport, Fadi Al-Hassan, told Annahar that the airport won’t shut down, contrary to circulating news.
He assured that solutions should be found for the air traffic controllers, as their situation is almost the most difficult among all official workers.
The head of the airport also told various news sources that the legislation for hiring more controllers has been drafted and will be discussed in the next parliamentary session.
News of the Beirut airport closing started circulating after parliament member Bilal Abdallah tweeted that it may shut down Friday night.
Recruiting was reportedly halted due to sectarian reasons. There is a quota for controllers to be split 50-50 between Christians and Muslims. Due to an imbalance, the recruiting ‘had’ to stop.
The air traffic control at the Beirut airport is necessary to coordinate both inbound and outbound aircraft for both passenger and cargo airplanes as it is the only international airport in Lebanon.
