Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY/OLBA), Beirut, Lebanon

Rafic Hariri International Airport, which was renamed from Beirut International Airport in June 2005, is a vital facility that plays a major role in linking Lebanon with the outside world, benefiting the country’s business and tourism sectors. The airport is located in the Khaldeh suburb south of the capital and around 8km from downtown Beirut. Opened in 1954, it was renovated in 1977 and the present runways were rehabilitated between 1982 and 1984.

The execution of the first phase of the new airport started in 1994 and was inaugurated in 1998. The second phase was completed by June 2000. Combined, these projects cost around $450 million, funded by the European Bank for Investment and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development. Payments for completed projects were taken from a special fund made up of airport taxes and fees, based on the assumption that airport revenues should increase with the development of air travel and increases of passenger numbers. The new airport should be capable of hosting 6 million passengers a year, and in the longer term, this figure may well grow (on the back of new projects) to 16 million by 2035.

PHASE 1 – THE KARAGULLA CONTRACT

The first contract, awarded to the Fahmi Karagulla Contracting Group, included the construction of a new eastern runway and was worked on from 1994 until 1997 with a cost of $60 million. The runway is 3,800m long and 45m wide with two asphalt sides of 7.5m width each. Designed so that planes do not have to stop and turn before leaving the landing zone, the runway can accommodate a touch-down every three minutes, twice as fast as the airport's other runways. Work on this phase of the project included the diversion of Al Ghadir river and the building of installations on the Al Qassis Canal, used for draining rain water from Southern Suburb. Water channels were installed to divert two rivers away from the airport, and coastal land along the Khalde highway was developed to accommodate further expansion projects. A service road on the eastern side of the airport was also opened, connecting the new runway to the air plane parking zone.

PHASE 2 – THE HOKTEF AND CCC CONTRACT

The German - Lebanese Group, Hoktef and CCC was awarded the largest contract, worth around $390 million, for the redevelopment of the terminal building. Before commencement of the planned work, a preparatory period extending over a number of months saw the construction of a centre for representatives of the consultants, officials from the Civil Aviation Directorate and the Council for Development and Reconstruction, as well as the preparation of Ouzai port to store the necessary demolishing material and equipment. The project also required the appropriations of around 800,000m costing $160 million.

Phase 2 further included the rehabilitation of a number of buildings, including the structures hosting electric generation and air-conditioning, the aviation safety centre, the civil aviation workshop and garage, the fire fighting training centre, as well as the customs, freight and catering buildings. On top of this, new construction projects were sanctioned for a private aviation building, a VIP building, a building with a parking capacity for 2,200 cars and a building for sorting mail. New buildings combined to bring up the total area for the terminal to 150,000m².

CUTE SYSTEM INTEGRATION

In 1998, the airport selected SITA to install the CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) system to automate its passenger processing operations. The system is designed to improve the efficiency and speed with which passengers can be checked in, particularly in an environment where passenger numbers at the airport are increasing year after year. CUTE works as a passenger management system and enables airlines or their handling agents to access their own applications in real-time across a shared network and shared set of terminal equipment.

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