Beirut airport awaits post-war recovery

Beirut's renamed Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) is still reeling from the 2006 conflict between Israel and the militant Lebanese group Hizbullah, with passenger numbers down and some USD19 million needed to acquire a second radar and upgrade communications and security systems.

During the month-long conflict, RHIA was crippled by 24 air strikes on the runways and attacks on three fuel tanks, costing the airport an estimated USD8 million in damage. In the year since, Lebanon has struggled to get back on its feet amid political instability within a deteriorating security situation that has seen tourist numbers plunge.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, the number of visitors dropped from 630,804 between January and June 2006 to 412,041 in the same period this year. RHIA has consequently seen a 20-25 per cent drop in passengers compared to 2006, with only half of the facility's six million annual capacity being used.

"We see empty aircraft sometimes," says Hamdi Chaouk, director general of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the country's aviation operator and regulator. "Most passengers, if not all, are Lebanese," he adds.

Political instability is not only affecting the airport's earnings but has also hit the CAA's 20-year plan to upgrade RHIA; turn the inactive Iaat airport near the eastern city of Baalbek into a cargo and charter hub; and turn Rayak airport in the centre of the country into a training and private jet facility.

"All the ideas are on hold until the government is stable again, as all this requires stability, so there is no investment," says Chaouk, adding that there are still long-term plans to expand RHIA to handle 16 million passengers by 2035. "More expansion, more development [is required] as time goes by," he said, adding: "The airport is just waiting for more passengers."

In the immediate term, however, the RHIA is struggling to raise an estimated USD19 million that is needed to acquire a secondary radar, security equipment and communications technology. 328 of 1,101 words