Lebanon to launch tender for $70 million airport terminal

Lebanon to launch tender for $70 million airport terminal

Project will be carried out by the private sector and will create hundreds of jobs

By AP Published: Wed 8 Jun 2022, 2:51 PM

Lebanon will soon launch an international tender for the construction of a new terminal at the country’s only international airport in Beirut, a caretaker Cabinet minister said Wednesday, with hopes of accommodating a projected rise in visitors.

The airport had a major facelift after the country’s 1975-90 civil war, and has been working at full capacity for years as the government’s expansion plans have been repeatedly delayed.

Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie told reporters at the airport that a tender for the $70 million project to build a second terminal at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport is being prepared. He said Terminal 2 will be for chartered and low-cost flights, as well those carrying Muslim pilgrims.

Hamie said the project will be carried out by the private sector and will create hundreds of jobs at a time when Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic crisis in its modern history.

The airport currently handles 8 million passengers a year, and the plans are to reach 20 million in 2030, according to the website of national carrier Middle