Passengers deplaned to allow Lebanese President to travel

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Lebanese President Michel Aoun is in New York to attend the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, but his departure from the capital Beirut on Sunday was marred by a controversy that affected hundreds of passengers at Rafic Hariri International Airport.

Passengers on a midday Cairo-bound flight operated by Lebanon's national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) were asked to disembark the plane after it was unexpectedly designated to carry the presidential delegation to New York instead.

The sudden change caused travelers who were initially traveling on flight ME305 to be stranded for almost nine hours at the airport, and reportedly caused delays to other flights.

At Cairo International Airport, around 100 passengers traveling to Beirut were also forced to wait, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) quoted MEA as saying on Sunday they did their best to ensure passengers fly out to their destination on an evening flight.

The flight eventually took off at 9:18 p.m. local time after a delay of eight hours and 53 minutes, data by flight-tracking company FlightAware showed.

MEA said the situation was "beyond its control," the NNA reported, but the statement seems to have been countered by Aoun's office.

On Monday, the presidential office issued a statement clarifying that the arrangements of presidential trips "have not changed for tens of years," noting that any mishap is "the responsibility of the party organizing air traffic."

An unnamed airport source told news website Janoubia that two planes are usually reserved for the president during his travels for security reasons.

The Cairo-bound plane was cleared of passengers following a request to the MEA after the initially allotted vessel was fuelled up. It never took off as the decision eventually fell on the other plane, but extra fuel meant to ensure a non-stop flight to New York prevented the plane from flying to Cairo, the source noted.

The removal of passengers from the plane caused a stir online, amid unverified reports that four planes were booked for the president and a 400-strong delegation was accompanying him. These rumors were later quashed.

Paula Yacoubian, a member of the Lebanese parliament and journalist, expressed shock on Twitter.

"The father of all removed everyone [from the plane] and took off!!???" she wrote below a screenshot of the news, referring to the nickname some in Lebanon have bestowed on the 83-year-old president.

The Lebanese airline has yet to comment on the evacuation controversy. On Monday, MEA denied on Twitter it released a statement making the rounds in the media and attributed to it, noting it only apologized to passengers whose flights had been delayed.

Sunday's mishap came just weeks after a technical glitch in the baggage management system at the airport on September 6 caused flight delays and chaos in the departures hall, leaving passengers stranded overnight reportedly without access to water.