Lebanon inaugurates second international airport

Lebanon has officially inaugurated its second international airport, renovated nearly 90 years after it was built by the French colonial army.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday flew aboard the first civilian aircraft in many years to land at the airport in north Lebanon, close to the Syrian border.

“This airport is not a replacement for Beirut Airport. Lebanon needs a modern and integrated air infrastructure, and it needs to connect its regions to the national economic cycle,” Salam said in an inauguration speech broadcast by Al-Jadeed and other local TV channels.

The airport was known as the Quleiat air base before it was renamed Rene Mouawad airport after the president, who was killed in a Beirut car bomb in 1989.

Lebanon’s Sky Lounge Services company said it has been awarded a contract to develop and operate the airport following strong competition from other firms. Sky Lounge will operate the airport for four years.

The opening of the airport after years of delays due to internal political turbulence and regional conflicts coincides with the eruption of hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in South Lebanon and other areas.

“The operation of this airport will no doubt spur the economy and investments in north Lebanon after hostilities are over,” said Jassem Ajaka, an economics professor at the state-controlled Lebanese University in Beirut.

Lebanon, suffering from the worst financial crisis in its modern history, had tried to rehabilitate that airport but its attempts during the past two decades were bogged down due to the civil strife and Israeli attacks on the airport.

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Located nearly 6km from the Syrian border, the airport was built by the French army in 1938, and years later control was taken by the Lebanese army.

In July 2006, Israeli jets bombed the base during the conflict against Hezbollah but it was partially rebuilt by the Lebanese army.

Lebanon, with a population of about 6 million, currently has one civilian airport, known as Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, which was named after the assassinated prime minister.

Officials believe there is a need for a second airport since the existing one is located close to Beirut’s southern suburb, which is controlled by Hezbollah.

“The calls to reopen Quleiat Airport are not a temporary reaction to political and security developments but rather stem from an urgent national and economic need,” Hamed Zakaria, head of the Qlayaat Airport Follow-up Committee, said last year.