Beirut Airport posts record 22,800 daily departing passengers: minister

BEIRUT, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Interior Minister Raya El Hassan said on Saturday that a record high of 22,800 passengers departed from the Beirut Airport on Friday, an online independent newspaper reported.

The Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) is being expanded and renovated, and the work is expected to finish soon, Hassan was quoted by Elnashra as saying.

The first stage of an expansion project for the departure terminal of the Beirut Airport was inaugurated in early June.

Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos announced last month that Beirut's newly renovated airport would start operation in August.