Lebanonupdated 2h ago2 min read
MapBeirut International Airport Restores Electricity After Technical Fault, Operations Resume
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Beirut International Airport lost public power due to a technical fault. Backup generators maintained operations and air traffic while the power was out.
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Outage, then power returns
Beirut International Airport restored electricity after a power outage caused by a technical fault, with "Al-Jadeed" reporting that electricity returned and operations resumed. The Beirut Airport Authority said the airport had been "since this morning, without power supply from the public grid," forcing reliance on backup generators to keep facilities running. The Beirut Airport Authority made repeated inquiries to the Lebanon Electric Power Company about the outage’s causes and timing, but it received only promises without a restoration.
Air traffic and passenger movement were proceeding normally and routinely after the power returned to Rafic Hariri International Airport. As of October 28, Elsiyasa said statistics recorded about 27,000 arrivals to Lebanon through the airport, compared with 374,946 departures during the period covered by the statistics.
EDL explanations questioned
Mohammad Shatila confirmed that EDL eventually responded and informed him that a "major blackout in the country" caused the several-hour outage. Shatila told L'Orient Today, "EDL did not answer our calls for several hours," and he said he was not convinced by the explanation. EDL told the airport that the outage was caused by "a failure of the communication systems at the telephone exchanges."
Mohammad Chatila remained skeptical and wondered if the outage was a "veiled warning" before the Monday deadline. EDL confirmed the problem was resolved and that the situation at the AIB had returned to normal.
Bills, deadline, and risk
EDL’s board announced last Friday that teams would begin cutting power to delinquent public administrations and institutions on the morning of Nov. 2.
Shatila warned that "There is only one operational airport in this country," and he said the airport would have to suspend services if generators could not power it for more than a few hours.
EDL issued an ultimatum until Monday to public administrations that had not paid their electricity bills, threatening to cut off supply.
The airport’s director general insisted that "The AIB generated $330 million last year," but the sum is transferred directly to the Treasury.
The AIB’s management contacted Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Transport and Public Works Minister Fayez Rassamny to seek a solution before Monday’s deadline.