One early morning this past week, our plane landed at Beirut Airport at 4:30 am. A couple of planes had landed at the same time, so there were about 400 passengers who lined up at the passport control booths. People had obviously flown all night, some from nearby Europe but many from as far as the Americas, and everyone was exhausted.
Only three inspectors were processing the passport checks, one for Lebanese passports, one for foreign passports, and one special booth for diplomats, flight crews etc. The latter was not that busy but they were all taking their time, working very slowly. Occasionally, there would be a passenger who needed a visa or further control, so the inspector would leave his booth and walk, again very very slowly, with the passenger to an office behind a glass door, a few meters away, wait for some 5-10 minutes while the passenger's papers were being processed, then walk back with him to the booth, again very slowly.
Children were crying, some passengers complained loud, and everyone's nerves were frayed. The chief inspector, the one behind the glass door, would not allow an older lady to accompany a wheelchair-bound passenger through the special booth, and a yelling match erupted while all the other passengers, particularly the foreign visitors, were watching. But the inspectors continued to work at a snail's pace, as if to deliberately unnerve people. At the very least, they did not seem to make any effort at speeding up the process.
It took 1.5 hours for my turn to go through. When I walked out to go get my luggage, I noticed that all the luggage carts were located at the extreme other end of the hall, except for a few in the hands of porters. To get a free cart, I had to walk all the way to the other end, past the running carousels. I yelled at the porters whom I suspect herd the carts far away to force you to hire their service. Cruel! I also went to a Baggage Claim counter to complain but I was told it is not their business to make sure carts are easily available to passengers. The carousels were not marked as to which plane's baggages were where. In fact, it seems there is one very long carousel that runs all across the hall, and passengers have to run back and forth to see where their luggage is.
To all visitors this summer to Beirut: Prepare yourself for incomptence and deliberate cruelty on the part of airport officials and employees who continuously broadcast a stale 30-year old insincere message over the speakers that says, "welcome to Rafik Hariri airport, we are honored ...." all blah blah that no one really means.
BE PREPARED: EVERYONE HERE JUST WANT YOUR MONEY! While TV ads bombard people with smartass slogans of hospitality, the reality is otherwise. Store and restaurant owners and waiters will rarely greet you with a smile or a kind word, they will throw a QR code on your table and will humiliate you if you dare ask for a paper menu. The contrast between western hospitality and Lebanese hospitality is as follows: In the west, the guest is treated with professionalism and a minimal but not invasive expression of hospitality, with simple hellos and goodbyes and polite conversation. In Lebanon you'll get the extremes: Either absolute rudeness, or a fake insincere and invasive hospitality that tramples on your privacy. GOOD LUCK.
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