The re-service project at the René-Moawad airport in Qlayaat, Akkar, is entering a new phase. Sky Lounge Services, responsible for development and operation, announces a partial start-up at the end of October 2026. The terminal has been expanded from 2,000 to 4,700 square metres and its main structure is now complete. Interior work, electromechanical equipment and runway preparation must continue to progress before the reception of the first passengers.
The reactivation of the Qlayaat airport is beginning to take concrete form in northern Lebanon. In a state of progress published on August 19, Sky Lounge Services reports simultaneous progress on the terminal, technical equipment and preparation of the runway work.
Above all, the company maintains an objective which will enable it to quickly measure the actual progress of the project:partial exploitation at the end of october. Full opening would take place later, after completion of the remaining work and operational requirements. No specific date is yet announced for this second stage.
The calendar remains tight. In just over two months, it will be necessary to continue the interior development of the terminal, install the necessary equipment, advance on the runway and obtain the operational preparation necessary for the reception of flights. The announced partial opening should not therefore be confused with the final commissioning of all planned capacity.
The Qlayaat terminal increases from 2,000 to 4,700 m2
The most visible change concerns the passenger vessel. Its area, initially planned for2,000 square metreshas been extended to4,700 square metreseither an extension of2,700 square metres.
According to Sky Lounge Services, this amendment responds in particular to the needs expressed by the security services and the agencies responsible for operating the airport. The additional space should allow for more equipment and improved passenger traffic.
The project includes an increase in the number of X-ray monitors. The new dimensioning must also allow for the simultaneous processing of more passengers and the reduction of the constraints associated with checks and the various stages prior to boarding.
This extension is significant for a project initially designed around a relatively small infrastructure. It shows that operational requirements have been reassessed as the re-introduction is being prepared.
However, it alone does not determine the future annual capacity of the airport. Sky Lounge Services does not communicate in its announcement any annual traffic forecast, number of daily movements, or list of airlines called to use Qlayaat.
These data will be crucial for measuring the real importance of the second planned air entry point for the country.
The main structure of the building is completed
At the site, the terminal has now reached its final structural form. The lateral metal frame and the roof frame were installed.
This step does not mean that the building is finished. The work must now cover its complete closure, the floors and the various finishes necessary before it is used.
Electromechanical work was also attributed. They include facilities essential for the operation of a terminal, even though the company did not provide the details of the equipment concerned or their installation schedule in its press release.
Simultaneous advancement of these different batches should prepare for the partial opening announced in October. By then, only the infrastructure and functions required for this first phase will have to be operational. Work may continue at the same time until full commissioning.
This step-by-step organisation will speed up the return of air activity to Qlayaat without necessarily waiting for the completion of the entire project.
However, it requires close coordination between construction and operation so that the remaining work does not disrupt operations already open to passengers.
Work on the runway is the next step
The terminal is only part of the infrastructure needed to operate an airport. Sky Lounge Services is now announcing the start of preparations for the runway equipment.
This component will be particularly important in determining the nature of the operations that can be hosted in Qlayaat.
A runway intended for commercial flights must meet technical and safety requirements, including its condition, marking, equipment necessary for the movement of aircraft and procedures for their operation.
The press release does not yet provide details of the extent of the planned interventions or their precise timing. It only states that preparations are under way to strengthen the airport’s operational readiness.
The progress of these works should therefore be followed separately from that of the terminal. A passenger vessel may be ready without all aeronautical infrastructure being allowed to operate at full capacity.
It is also for this reason that the company first speaks of a partial operation.
Several administrations involved in the return to service
Reactivation of Qlayaat also requires coordination between several public institutions. Sky Lounge Services reports working with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and the relevant security services.
This coordination is essential to organise the various functions of an international airport: civil aviation, security, passenger controls and flow management.
The physical development of infrastructure is therefore only part of the process. At the same time, the authorities must prepare the personnel, procedures and equipment necessary for the operation of the site.
The increase in terminal area in response to the needs of security agencies already illustrates this interaction between construction and operation.
The real test of the date announced for October will not only be the visible completion of the buildings. It will be the capacity of all concerned administrations to operate simultaneously upon arrival of the first flights.
Qlayaat to create a second air gate for Lebanon
The re-service of René-Moawad Airport has a range beyond Akkar alone. Lebanon currently depends on the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut for most of its commercial air traffic.
The reactivation of Qlayaat must introduce a second infrastructure capable of hosting part of this activity.
This diversification has an economic interest. An airport in the north can improve access to Akkar, Tripoli and wider northern Lebanon. It may also create new opportunities for passenger transport and, depending on the capabilities to be developed at a later stage, for other air activities.
It also has a strategic dimension. Dependence on one major airport makes all Lebanese air traffic vulnerable to any disruption affecting Beirut. The various security crises in the country have regularly recalled this weakness.
However, Qlayaat will only be able to play this role on the basis of its actual capabilities, the certifications obtained, the companies that will agree to serve it and the frequency of the flights proposed.
Opening a terminal is not enough to create a second aerial pole. It must have sufficient regular traffic to become economically and operationally sustainable.
Particularly expected infrastructure in the North
For Akkar and Tripoli, the reopening has another dimension. The North has long called for better integration with major national infrastructures and a reduction in the concentration of activities around Beirut.
An operating airport can generate direct activity around transportation, maintenance, security and passenger services. It can also promote business activities around infrastructure.
However, these effects remain to be measured. No official figures are provided in the announcement of 19 August concerning the expected number of jobs, the private investments likely to accompany the opening or the expected economic benefits for Akkar.
It would therefore be premature to quantify the regional impact.
The first concrete consequence will be simpler: allowing passengers to leave or arrive directly in the north of the country without systematically passing through Beirut airport.
The extent of this benefit will then depend on the proposed network of destinations.
Companies and destinations remain the main unknown
Airlines become next test
The re-service of Qlayaat is not only based on the completion of the terminal and runway. It now depends on the capacity of the new airport to attract companies capable of installing regular routes.
A first company has already been publicly positioned.Mada Airwaysindicated in June that it wanted to be among the first carriers to start operations from Qlayaat. Its Managing Director, Imad Raad, posted this commitment at the launch of the project’s executive phase.
At the same time, the government prepared the regulatory framework. On 9 July, the Council of Ministers approved an application by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport for licences for scheduled air transportation services at René-Moawad Airport.
Minister Fayez Rasamny also indicated that his department was working to attractseveral low-cost companies, with the objective of linking Qlayaat to regional and international destinations. However, no definitive set of carriers or destinations has yet been officially announced.
This nuance is essential. Mada Airways’ interest and contacts with low-cost companies show that Qlayaat’s commercial preparation has begun. They do not yet make it possible to consider that a complete air network is constituted.
The next indicator will therefore be the publication of the first regular lines: selected companies, destinations, frequencies, timetables and effective date of ticket marketing.
Fayez Rasamny announced in July that the first aircraft was to take off from Qlayaat in October. Sky Lounge Services now aims at partial operation at the end of the same month. If this schedule is kept, the next few weeks will necessarily have to clarify which carriers will actually be opening the new platform.
Late October becomes the first test
The next few weeks will measure whether the announced schedule can be maintained. Several indicators will be particularly important: complete closure of the terminal, progress of soil and finishes, installation of electromechanical equipment, installation of safety devices and progress of work related to the runway.
It will then be necessary to know the operational authorizations obtained and especially the first companies ready to serve the airport.
Sky Lounge Services claims to continue work on all of these axes with the aim of launching partial operation at the end of October while continuing the necessary interventions for full opening.
The reactivation of Qlayaat thus passes from a long-discussed project to a now measurable deadline. The site has an enlarged terminal and a completed structure; It remains to transform these buildings into an airport that is actually capable of hosting aircraft and passengers in just over two months.
