Haitham Joumaa: Abidjan Airport is Secure and Air Traffic Has Returned to Normal

The Director General of the Foreign Ministry and head of the Foreign Ministry delegation to the Ivory Coast Haithan Joumaa meanwhile told the National News Agency from Accra airport that Abidjan airport was now secure.

He said on Tuesday that air traffic has been returned to normal allowing MEA to set up direct flights to the Ivory Coast capital.

He announced that the evacuation of Lebanese from the Ivory Coast through Accra will be halted once the 400 expatriates already there are returned to Lebanon.

Those seeking to flee the Ivory Coast will be evacuated directly from Abidjan, Joumaa stated.

Meanwhile, two planes arrived in Beirut from Abidjan on Tuesday as part of efforts to evacuate Lebanese expatriates from the war-torn Ivory Coast.

The first flight, from Middle East Airlines, arrived at dawn on Tuesday with 244 passengers onboard, while another plane, rented by MEA from Tunisia, arrived in the morning with 160 passengers.

Two other flights with 260 passengers onboard each are expected to arrive in Beirut later in the day.

Meanwhile, a MEA flight is scheduled to land at 11:30 pm arriving from Abidjan, another from the Ghanaian capital Accra at 1:35 am Wednesday, and a third at 8:30 am also on Wednesday.

Middle East Airlines is likely to begin setting up two or three flights a day to Abidjan and Accra.