SITA still happy to stand by Lebanon

The offices are in a backstreet in the centre of Beirut, close to the Green Line, which bore the brunt of the damage in the civil war and felt the impact of the 2006 Israeli attacks.

But the company that stuck with Lebanon through those dark days has not only just helped the country’s main airport and national airline compete with the best in the world, it is also a focal point for the whole of the Middle East region when it comes to technology.

The company is SITA, arguably the world’s leading aviation technology provider.

“We have owned this building for almost 50 years now,” said Hani El Assaad, SITA’s regional vice-president, Middle East and Turkey.

“Lebanon has been always considered the window between East and West or Europe and Asia,” Assaad said. “It is as close to the centre of Europe as it is to the Gulf. We are three hours from Geneva and the same to Dubai. Historically and politically it has been the centre of attention of many organisations. The issue is, that during the war some organisations decided to move out of Lebanon. We decided to stay because part of our business is to ensure we take business risks. We share risks with the airlines.”

During the Israeli bombing, SITA moved some staff to the safety of Cyprus.

“The efficiency was as good as ever. We had to relocate some of the people to Cyprus and we moved people to be close to projects. So, if it was a project in Dubai, they had to go to Dubai. Of course, we had some question marks. Do we need to keep considering Beirut as regional office or not? Luckily it didn’t last long and at the end of the day the number one headache is the cost. We consider Lebanon as the most cost-effective place to be. So that’s why we decided to stay. But we always have a plan in case something happens – I just hope it never will and things get better and better.”

SITA is heavily involved in assisting airports and airlines develop the technologies to improve their efficiency and Assaad said there are good examples in Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.

Earlier this year SITA helped MEA to implement an integrated baggage management system to reduce the level of mishandled baggage and improve security. The BagManager and BagMessage system already benefits 80 per cent of the airlines flying to Lebanon which have flights handled by Middle East Airlines Ground Handling (MEAG). It has now been made available to other ground-handlers at the airport.

Basically the SITA system provides passenger-bag reconciliation, which ensures the right bag gets on the right plane and is assigned to the right passenger. By reducing the number of mishandled bags, it is expected to deliver Middle East Airlines cost savings of up to 30 per cent.

From the regional headquarters in Beirut, SITA manages hubs in Istanbul, Cairo, Amman and Dubai. This spreads the workload, the relationships and the risks across the whole region. And it is working.

Major deals have been signed recently with Qatar and Abu Dhabi as more airports embrace the SITA digital airport and airline concepts (see story page 32). Syria and Iran are also investing, and Kuwait was one of the pioneers in advance passenger processing.

Assaad is preparing to work with Lebanon’s civil aviation directorate on the country’s new airport and terminal plans and will work with all of the stakeholders. Lebanon’s airport and airline have already worked together to introduce passenger kiosks and other systems to meet the growing demand of passenger numbers.

“Beirut has become one of the hottest destinations in the world. I think the New York Times rates it as Top10, yet it used to be a no-go, or a red zone for most Europeans and Americans,” Assaad said.

“Now we can see huge investment. I think what happened in the downturn was quite significant. The financial crisis affected many big organisations and countries but Lebanon was not really impacted. Lebanon stayed intact and the banking system was one of the safest. In fact, we saw a huge increase in banking deposits.”

So will Lebanon invest in airport technology in the same way as the Gulf States?

“I think in terms of commitment they are the same and have not spared any effort to embrace the new technologies,” Assaad said. “The only difference with the Gulf countries is that the budget is not available in Lebanon. In many cases in the region I have to say the Middle East airports and carriers are happy to pioneer and sponsor systems themselves, rather than relying on authorities. So they are so keen to embrace the new technology. They have sponsored it and offer their support to work the system.”