Reuters: ICAO Finds Beirut Airport Lacks Valid Certification, Clouding Trump's Bid to Restore U.S.-Lebanon Direct Flights
An International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) technical assistance team has found that Lebanon's main airport, Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, lacks valid certification, that its conditional certification has expired, that the airport has no emergency plan, and that its firefighting resources are sufficient only for single-aisle aircraft, not the twin-aisle wide-body jets needed for long-haul routes, Reuters reported on October 16. A summary of the ICAO report seen by Reuters described the matter as serious and time-critical.
The ICAO team traveled to Beirut in July at the request of Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA) and delivered its internal report to the Lebanese side in September. The findings set back President Donald Trump's move to restore direct flights between the United States and Lebanon. Trump announced the move in July and signed an order allowing direct flights in September, seeking to end a halt in direct air service that has lasted roughly four decades, since the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which was forced to land in Beirut.
According to Reuters, even if Washington proceeds, resuming direct flights would still require separate safety reviews by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Reuters cited two anonymous industry executives who expected the ICAO finding to delay the resumption; that expectation is the executives' judgment, not a conclusion of the ICAO report itself. As of the report, there are no direct flights between the United States and Lebanon, and travelers must connect through third countries.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：黎巴嫩中东航空一架空客A320客机停靠在贝鲁特拉菲克·哈里里国际机场（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，abdallahh 摄，CC BY 2.0 授权 / Photo: A Middle East Airlines Airbus A320 at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (file photo). Source: Wikimedia Commons, by abdallahh, CC BY 2.0.
