This Company Just Won the Bid to Operate Lebanon’s New Qlaayat Airport
After years of sitting dormant, René Mouawad Airport in Qlayaat has a new operator, and Lebanon’s long-overdue second civilian airport is finally showing signs of life.
Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny this week announced the award of the operating and investment contract for the airport to Sky Lounges Services, a private aviation and business aviation services company owned by Captain Nicolas Meszaros. The bid was run as a public tender under Lebanon’s Public Procurement Law. The ministry cited transparency and legal competitiveness as key priorities in how the process was handled.
Image via Michel Hallak
Rasamny has made the Qlayaat file a personal priority since taking office. This contract represents the most concrete progress the airport has seen in decades.
The broader goal goes beyond a single concession deal: officials are framing the project as a national infrastructure move, one aimed at building out Lebanon’s civil aviation capacity and taking some of the load off Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, which has long been the country’s sole functioning civilian gateway.
Sky Lounges Services now takes on the task of turning that ambition into an actual operating airport. For a facility that’s been perpetually promised and repeatedly delayed, getting the right operator in place is the first step. Whether they can deliver is the question northern Lebanon has been waiting years to have answered.
What do you think about the revival of the Qlayaat Airport in Lebanon? Check out the #News section for updates.
