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Airport company dispute
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport said the Council of Ministers’ decision to establish the "Beirut International Airport Company" to manage, operate, and invest in Rafic Hariri International Airport — Beirut is a direct application of Civil Aviation Sector Management Law No. 481 issued in 2002.
The ministry said the company’s designation is explicitly stated in Article 14 of Law No. 481/2002 and that adopting it does not constitute a government-initiated decision but rather the implementation of an operative legal text.
It added that the law’s principle separates the tasks of regulation, supervision, and oversight carried out by the General Civil Aviation Authority from the operating and investment duties entrusted by the law to the "Beirut International Airport Company."
The ministry also denied what it described as inaccurate information about the company’s ownership, saying Article 14 states the company’s shares are owned entirely by the state, with the possibility of selling them wholly or partly under Privatization Law No. 228 of 2000 and a Council of Ministers’ decision.
It concluded that what the Council of Ministers approved falls within the legal framework in place since 2002 and aims to develop airport management while preserving public ownership and compliance with applicable legal and regulatory provisions.
MP demands transparency
MP Ali Hassan Khalil said the government program did not address the core legal, administrative, and financial issues raised about the project and instead merely restated the provisions of Law No. 481/2002.
Khalil argued that "the discussion is not about the principle of creating the company itself" but about whether it is permissible to activate Article 14 after the one-year deadline from its effective date, questioning "the legal basis on which the government relied to override a deadline that expired since 2003."
He also pointed to Decree No. 12632/2004, saying the ministry neglected to mention the Civil Aviation Authority’s powers, including investing in civilian airports and monitoring institutions established under the Civil Aviation Administration Law.
Khalil further asked whether the project was presented to the Authority's Board of Directors before approval, calling it mandatory under the decree and raising questions about how the decision was passed.
He pressed for publication of the full founding charter and the studies behind the decision, while also calling the company’s capital of only one billion Lebanese pounds a figure that raises questions about valuing assets, facilities, equipment, and revenues linked to Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Control of RHIA
The political backlash described by L'Orient Today followed a June 15 government decision to create a joint-stock company to oversee management and operation of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA).
“A statement issued by the Media Office of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport clarified the background of the Lebanese Cabinet's decision regarding the establishment of the 'Beirut International Airport Foundation Company' to manage, operate and invest in Rafic Hariri International Airport – Beirut, confirming that the decision represents a direct application of Civil Aviation Sector Management Law No”
Under the Cabinet decision, the new company is tasked with providing "airport, air navigation, communications and meteorology services, as well as all related and derivative activities," and the move opened a debate over who controls Lebanon’s only functional civilian airport.
L'Orient Today said the decision came shortly after the government signed, on June 4, an advisory agreement with the International Finance Corporation to help structure a public-private partnership for the rehabilitation, expansion, financing, operation and related work.
In parallel, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said the reform philosophy of Law No. 481/2002 is based on separating regulatory and supervisory functions from operational and investment functions to ensure neutrality and avoid conflicts of interest.
The ministry also maintained that establishing the company does not encroach on the role of the Civil Aviation General Authority, framing the arrangement as a mechanism to develop airport governance and enhance operational and investment capabilities while preserving public ownership and legal compliance.
