Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
Facts on BEY
Beirut's code BEY doesn't match the English spelling of the city; it comes from 'Beyrouth', the French transliteration still used in the airport's own French name, Aéroport international de Beyrouth - Rafic Hariri.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport is named for Rafic Hariri, a Lebanese businessman who made a fortune in Saudi Arabian construction with his firm Saudi Oger before returning home to help broker the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended Lebanon's 15-year civil war, then serving as prime minister for a decade.
Source: Wikipedia
Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005 when a truck bomb equivalent to about 1,800 kilograms of TNT exploded near his motorcade in Beirut, killing him and 22 others; the airport was renamed in his honor just over four months later, on 22 June 2005.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport opened on 23 April 1954, replacing the smaller Bir Hassan Airfield a short distance away; its original terminal was considered strikingly modern for the era, complete with a spotters' terrace and café.
Source: Wikipedia
On the night of 28 December 1968, Israeli commandos raided the airport and destroyed 14 civilian aircraft belonging to Lebanon's airlines, in retaliation for an attack on an El Al plane in Athens two days earlier, devastating the country's aviation industry.
Source: Wikipedia
Israeli airstrikes on 13 July 2006 damaged all three runways during the Lebanon War, closing the airport for five weeks; commercial flights did not resume until 17 August 2006, when a Middle East Airlines flight arrived from Amman.
Source: Wikipedia
A new runway, 17/35 (later renumbered 16/34), was built jutting out into the sea to a length of 3,395 metres specifically to route landing traffic away from the city and cut aircraft noise over Beirut.
Source: Wikipedia
Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, is not only the airport's hub airline but also keeps its corporate headquarters and pilot training centre on site, and its ground-handling arm manages nearly 80% of all traffic through the airport.
Source: Wikipedia