BEIRUT, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Rafic Hariri International Airport (RHIA) in Lebanese capital Beirut is witnessing an unprecedented increase in the number of passengers which reached 552,000 in the first half of August, local media reported Friday.

"The total flights during this period reached 3,995 from and to Lebanon, with the number of passenger arrivals rising to 266,564 and 286,101 for departures," according to El Markazia, a local news agency.

Earlier this year, Lebanese Finance Ministry approved 18 million U.S. dollars in funding for the expansion of the RHIA.

The funding came following a steady increase in passenger number in the airport since 2008, according to a study released by the airport's Research and Studies Department in March 2018.

The study predicted that as many as 10 million passengers would travel via the airport by 2020.

Meanwhile, manager of the airport Fadi El Hassan said that the airport has the capacity of hosting only 6 million passengers annually which needs expansion especially after the flow of a big number of Syrian refugees to the country.