BEIRUT - According to the newspaper “Daily Star”, the Chairman of Middle East Airlines (MEA) Mohammed Hout proposed on Tuesday the creation of an advanced aviation training center in Beirut.

After meeting with Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi, Hout said he discussed the idea of establishing this center with the minister who was in favor of the center and promised to raise this issue in the Cabinet meeting for approval. The proposed center will feature a flight simulator and training for pilots and crew.

MEA's Board of Directors have endorsed the creation of the center and allocated $30 million to ensure its success.

In fact, Hout believes that the political and security stability in Lebanon will reflect positively on both tourism and airport activity. He added that the number of passengers using Rafik Hariri International Airport rose significantly in the first six months of this year.

On the other hand, the Tourism Ministry intends to launch a media campaign to attract more tourists to Lebanon in the summer and winter in order to draw more than 1.6 million tourists to the country.
As a matter of fact, officials believe that tourism is one of the main pillars of Lebanon's economy because it helps generate hard currencies and creates thousands of jobs: Former Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis said recently that Lebanon could generate more than $3 billion annually from tourism.