Beirut airport

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مطار رفيق الحريري الدولي
Rafiq Hariri International Airport
BeirutAirport.jpg
Characteristics
ICAO code OLBA
IATA code BEY
Coordinates

33 ° 49 '15 "  N , 35 ° 29' 18"  E Coordinates: 33 ° 49 '15 "  N , 35 ° 29' 18"  E
Height above MSL 27 m (89  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 7 km south of Beirut
Basic data
opening 1954
Terminals 1 (with 23 gates and 21 passenger boarding bridges)
Passengers 8,834,819 (2018)
Air freight 98,200 t (2018)
Flight
movements 		73,626 (2018)
Capacity
( PAX per year) 		6.0 million
Runways
03/21 3800 m × 45 m concrete
16/34 3395 m × 45 m concrete
17/35 3250 m × 60 m asphalt

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The Rafiq Hariri airport ( Arabic مطار رفيق الحريري الدولي, DMG Maṭār Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī al-duwalī ), located on the southern outskirts of Beirut , is Lebanon's international airport . It is the base of the Middle East Airlines and the Wings of Lebanon.

It was originally called Beirut International Airport . On June 22, 2005, the name was renamed in honor of the former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri , who was victim of an attack on his convoy of vehicles on February 14, 2005 .

history

founding

Beirut Airport opened on April 23, 1953 . At that time it owned two runways. On the night of December 28-29, 1968, Israeli commandos landed at Beirut airport and blew up 14 planes from various, mostly Lebanese airlines, including 7 MEA machines, as well as fuel dumps in retaliation for a Palestinian attack on an Israeli plane on June 26th December 1968 in Athens. The Company Lebanese International Airways lost it with two Convair CV-990 and Douglas DC-7 Setting the majority of its fleet and had operations in the following January.

With the beginning of the Lebanese civil war , like the country itself, it lost its leading status in the region and with it all airlines except for the national Middle East Airlines and the Trans Mediterranean Airways . At times the airport was completely closed. Nevertheless, the terminal was renewed in 1977 and the runways in 1982 and 1988. In 1982 the terminal was damaged by grenade fire from the Israeli army. After the war, a 10-year program for extensive renovation and expansion was started in 1994.

Second Lebanon War 2006

On July 13, 2006 , during the Second Lebanon War, the airport was hit by Israeli bombs. All three runways were badly damaged, whereupon the airport was closed. Nevertheless, the airline Middle East Airlines managed to fly five of its planes over a taxiway. To prevent Hezbollah leaders from being flown out of embattled Lebanon, the Israeli air force bombed the airport's fuel depots. After a ceasefire came into force on August 14, 2006, operations at Beirut Airport could be resumed on August 17.

criticism

In March 2016, a garbage dump was opened in the immediate vicinity of the airport . As the landfill attracts a large number of birds, incidents with bird strikes increased . Several airlines are threatening to boycott the airport . The airport is served by Lufthansa and Germania Flug as well as MEA Middle East Airlines from Germany and Switzerland .

Incidents

Since it was founded, Beirut Airport and its vicinity have suffered 9 total losses in flight operations. 207 people were killed in 5 accidents.

  • On January 6, 1954, a Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc ( aircraft registration OD-ABU ) of Air Liban fell off the runway at Beirut airport when taking off for Kuwait due to an engine failure, with the chassis collapsing and the machine burned out. All five crew members and four passengers survived.
  • On October 3, 1957, a fire broke out on board a Curtiss C-46 of Lebanese International Airways ( OD-ACK ) after taking off from Beirut. When attempting to return, control of the controls was lost and the machine crashed into the sea about 18 km offshore. All 4 crew members and 23 passengers on the planned flight to Kuwait were killed.
  • On November 21, 1959, a Douglas DC-4 operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines ( YA-BAG ) collided with a mountain 30 kilometers northeast of the airfield after taking off from Beirut. Of the 27 occupants, only 3 passengers survived.
  • On January 9, 1968, a Boeing 720 from Ethiopian Airlines (ET-AAG) , which was leased from Middle East Airlines , landed hard on the nose landing gear at Beirut Airport. There was heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 45 knots. The nose landing gear collapsed; there was a fire which ultimately destroyed the machine. All 49 inmates were unharmed.
  • On September 30, 1975, a Tupolev Tu-154 of the Malev ( HA-LCI ) crashed for unknown reasons while approaching the sea. All 60 people on board were killed.
  • On July 23, 1979, a Boeing 707 of Trans Mediterranean Airways ( OD-AFX ) crashed during a training flight without passengers. On the third touch-and-go of the flight, the aircraft came into an uncontrollable attitude and crashed on the airfield. All six crew members were killed.
  • On January 25, 2010, a Boeing 737-800 (ET-ANB) crashed into the sea five minutes after take-off. All 90 occupants of the plane flying to Addis Ababa were killed. The investigation report identified serious operating errors by pilots who were very inexperienced in this type of accident as the causes of the accident (see also Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 ) .

In addition to the commando operation in 1968, aircraft were destroyed on the ground in 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1987 through acts of war or individual acts of terrorism. In addition, there were several aircraft hijackings , some only attempted (1970: 1, 1977: 1, 1980: 3, 1981: 1, 1982: 1 and 1985: 1), some successful (1983: 1 with landing in Beirut, 1985 with two take-offs in Beirut, 1985 with three landings in Beirut). One hijacked death when passengers left the aircraft and got caught in the exhaust jet of an engine that was just starting. In another case, a US serviceman was killed in a 16-day hostage situation in Beirut.

Web links

Commons : Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Statistics: Monthly Traffic For 2018. Accessed on March 10, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Aviation Safety Network - report list 1968/3: see under 28-DEC-1968 (English), accessed on March 19, 2017
  3. ↑ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international 1967 to 1969 . Zurich Airport 1967–1969.
  4. ↑ Birds threaten security at Beirut Airport , accessed December 7, 2016
  5. ^ Accident statistics at Beirut International Airport , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Accident report Languedoc OD-ABU , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Accident report C-46 OD-ACK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report DC-4 YA-BAG in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 19, 2017.
  9. ^ Accident report HP Herald JY-ACQ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 19, 2016.
  10. ^ Incident report DC-7 JY-ACO , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Accident report B-720 ET-AAG , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 13, 2018.
  12. ↑ Flight accident data and report TU-154 HA-LCI in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 23, 2017.
  13. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report B-707 OD-AFX in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report 737-800 ET-ANB in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ Airport data in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on March 19, 2017.
  16. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report on hijacking February 23, 1985 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  17. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report on hijacking June 14, 1985 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)