Dubai's Emirates Airline announced Monday that it plans to increase capacity on its flights to Beirut this summer.
Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, the divisional senior vice president for commercial operations at Emirates told The National that the increase was due to "healthy passenger demand."
Lebanon's normally resilient tourism industry - which has survived and bounced back after wars, bombings and periodic internal strife - has found the sustained spillover from the Syrian civil war difficult to paper over.
In 2013, the UAE and other Gulf nations issued traveled warnings for their citizens against traveling to Lebanon due to safety concerns. Arab travelers to Lebanon decreased by 12 percent between 2012 and 2013 as a result.
The warnings were lifted last year and since then, things have tentatively been looking more positive.
Currently, Emirates makes two daily flights from the United Arab Emirates to Lebanon via two Airbus 330-200s. As of June 1, one of these will be replaced by a Boeing 777-200LR, increasing seat space by 12 percent. By January 1 of next year, the other A330-200 will be replaced with a Boeing 777-300, increasing capacity more dramatically by 53 percent.
“Lebanon, despite its neighbors being in dire straits, is still a high-yield market for passengers, tourists and trade,” said Saj Ahmad, chief analyst for Strategic Aero Research, to The National .
“Since the start of 2015 until now, all indicators are very positive and the proof is that several airlines have called for an increased number of flights to Beirut,” the Director-General of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority told The Daily Star in February.
Lebanon's Tourism Ministry also noted an increase in tourists this year, pointing out that Arab visitors increased by more than 38 percent in January, citing the snow and the year's good ski season as a draw for visitors.
With around 150,000 Lebanese living in the UAE, a regular demand for flights to Beirut during holidays and vacations is also growing. The budget Dubai carrier FlyDubai has three daily flights between the Emirates and Beirut, increasing these offerings during peak travel seasons as well.
“The demand comes from Lebanese expats working in the UAE who tend to go home for both visiting families and for tourism,” Filippo Sona, director at Colliers International in MENA, told The National .
Its perhaps too soon to determine whether airport traffic will continue to increase. The chairman of Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, told The Daily Star that Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport's runways were built to accommodate some 6 million annual passengers, although terminal capacity would need to expand if flights increased that dramatically.