Lebanon inaugurates René Mouawad Airport as its second international airport

Audio By Carbonatix

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s government on Saturday inaugurated the country’s second international airport, which is expected to open to the public within weeks.

A jet carrying Prime Minister Nawaf Salam landed at René Mouawad Airport, where he led the ceremony at the facility in Lebanon’s northwest, close to Syria's border.

Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, which had been the only international airport in the small Mediterranean nation, has been working at near full capacity over the past several years, especially during Syria’s conflict, making it a main traveling point for Syrian citizens.

The airport is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Beirut and 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Syrian border, in the coastal village of Kleiat in Lebanon’s impoverished Akkar region, which has been marginalized by the state for decades.

“This is not an investment project, but a step toward balanced development and justice between regions,” Salam said in a speech during the ceremony.

Transportation Minister Fayez Rasamny said that the government’s goal is for the airport to start functioning within weeks, with flights to Istanbul and Mersin, Turkey, in addition to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He said that there were plans in the future to have flights to Athens, Greece, Cairo and the Muslim holy city of Medina, Saudi Arabia.

“This is the start of a new period for air transport in Lebanon,” Rasamny said.

The airport is named after late President-elect René Mouawad, who was assassinated in a Beirut blast in 1989, days after being elected. Mouawad was elected president in November 1989 during a parliamentary session that was held at the airport at the height of the 1975-90 civil war.