Rene Mouawad Airport

Qoleiat Airfield was originally built by the French army in 1938. The use of Qoleiat Airfield as a civil airport began in the early 1960s. Qoleiat airfield was small at the time and was used by the Tripoli oil company, who used small IPC airplanes for transporting its engineers, staff and workers between Lebanon and the Arab countries.^[1] In 1966, the Lebanese Army took control of Qoleiat Airfield and began its expansion and development into a modern joint Civil - military airport. It later became one of the most modernized air bases in the region. According to an agreement signed by the Lebanon and France, a number of state of the art modern Dassault Mirage III fighter jets were supplied to the Lebanese air force which saw pilots and technicians being sent to France in order to continue their training courses related to the Dassault Mirage III fighter jets. In the beginning of 1968, the military personnel finished their courses abroad and returned to Lebanon, with some pilots and technicians being transferred from Rayak Air Base to the Kleyate base. In April of the same year, two aircraft, flown by Lebanese pilots, arrived to Lebanon and other non-stop flights continued until June 1969.^[2]

Later during the Lebanese Civil War period, flights were significantly reduced and the Dassault Mirage III fighter jets were kept in storage. In November 1989, the Lebanese parliament met at the airport after the Taif Agreement and elected René Moawad president. Having been assassinated in Beirut seventeen days later, the airbase was later renamed in his honor, by a decree from the Lebanese parliament, and thus the airbase was established and became under the control of the Lebanese Air Force (in regards to the equipment and facilities) and under the jurisdiction of the North regional command (in regards to defense and order).^[2]

In 1990, Rene Mouawad Airport resumed its civil aviation activity, where Middle East Airlines ran flights between this air port and Beirut Airport to serve Tripoli and the surrounding area.^[3] In 2000, the Lebanese government sold Dassault Mirage III fighter that have become obsolete by this time to Pakistan ^[4] On July 13, 2006, the Israeli Air Force bombed the airbase during the 2006 Israel Lebanon conflict.^[5] The Rene Mouawad Airport has since been repaired and returned into service, mainly by the Lebanese Air Force. Since the late 2000s talks about resuming domestic flights from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport to Rene Mouawad Airport have come out, the latest in 2025.