Lebanon has launched an "open skies" policy to help revive its sluggish economy, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri said Thursday. "This decision shows that the government has started to implement its program for a prompt revival of all sectors of the economy," Hariri said in a press conference.
Hariri was announcing the "open skies" policy, adopted at the first meeting of his new government late Wednesday, which will allow airlines to transport products and passengers through Beirut airport without limitations, quotas or other constraints.
"This decision is a message to tell the entire world that Lebanon has started to open up to the world economy," he said.
Riad Abdallah, Lebanon's representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said during the press conference that Beirut International Airport, rebuilt for about 400 million dollars after the 1975-1990 civil war, runs at 30 percent of its capacity. – (AFP, Beirut)
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