Rene Mouawad Airport: From wartime base to future aviation hub

Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

When oil production in Iraq began expanding in 1934, and with the construction of the pipeline linking Kirkuk to Beddaoui and its refinery, the British Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) chose the Qlayaat area in the Akkar plain to build an airport. 

The location was selected because of its proximity to the railway line connecting Syria and Iraq, facilitating the transportation of the company's experts and engineers between London, Arab countries and Iraq.

Its strategic location prompted the Allies, following the outbreak of World War II, to use the small airport as a military base before returning it to the British company.

The newspaper Sada al-Shamal, published in 1948, documented numerous requests from European airlines seeking permission to land at the airport, which at the time lacked the necessary equipment and facilities and required repairs and upgrades.

In 1949, the Directorate of Transport at the Ministry of Public Works provided pilots with technical information about what was then known as Tripoli-Qlayaat Airport, including details about its location and runway dimensions. At the time, the airport operated only during daylight hours.

The Lebanese state officially took over the airport in 1966 and converted it into a military airbase. It was upgraded in stages, particularly following Lebanon's signing of the Arab Joint Defense Treaty, with initial French support followed by American assistance. 

The airport became home to the French Mirage fighter jets acquired by the Lebanese Army, as well as most of the aircraft and helicopters currently in its fleet.

During the Lebanese Civil War, when the coastal road linking northern Lebanon to Beirut and East Beirut to West Beirut was cut off between 1989 and 1990, Middle East Airlines operated flights between Qlayaat and Beirut airport. The journey took approximately 20 minutes each way.

The first aircraft to land there during that period belonged to businessman Issam Fares, who later served for years as Lebanon's deputy prime minister.

Lawmakers who attended the Taif conference used the airport to travel for the parliamentary session that elected Rene Mouawad president in October 1989. Following his assassination, the airport was named in his honor.

Less than eight years after marking its centennial, Rene Mouawad Airport is preparing to take off once again after years of unfulfilled promises.