BEIRUT, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Member of Lebanese Parliament Nazih Najm reiterated Tuesday the need to expand Rafic Hariri International Airport (RHIA) and update its equipment, local media reported.

"We need to expand the airport in a way that would increase its capacity to host 8 million passengers per year in addition to renewing its cooling systems, toilets, power generators and buying new baggage conveyers," he was quoted by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper, as saying.

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

The funding came after 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 Lebanon.

"Around 2 million Syrians use the airport annually," he said.