Beirut airport begins certification renewal after reported lapse

Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport’s conditional certification had expired, according to a Reuters account of a summary of an internal International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) report. On October 17, Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority head Mohammed Aziz said renewal procedures had begun and estimated that a conditional license would be expected in about a week. That was an estimate, not confirmation that a new certificate had been issued.

The reported findings emerged amid efforts to restore direct U.S.-Lebanon flights. A September 30 U.S. presidential determination revoked earlier prohibitions on the service, but Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) safety reviews must be completed before direct service can resume.

Report summary describes safety and oversight gaps

Reuters said it had seen a summary of an internal ICAO report. According to its account, the airport lacked an emergency plan, and its firefighting resources were equipped for single-aisle aircraft but not the twin-aisle planes used on long-haul routes. The summary also described a shortage of qualified Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority inspectors for air-traffic-control licensing.

The summary further said Lebanon did not have a fully established, operational and independent aircraft-accident investigation authority with clearly defined roles. These findings were reported from the summary, not presented as a public release of the full internal report. Reuters reported that ICAO’s technical-assistance mission took place in Lebanon in July 2026 at the Civil Aviation Authority’s request, and that ICAO sent its report to Lebanon in September.

Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny said on October 16 that most of the issues were already known to the authority, corrective action had begun and war had delayed progress. He forecast that certification work would start the following day and that conditional certification was expected in the coming days. That was a forecast made before October 17. Aziz’s later statement that renewal procedures had begun was a separate update; it did not confirm that certification had been renewed.

Akhbar Alyawm reported that Aziz said on October 16 that airport operations were continuing normally at that time. The reported certification lapse does not establish that the airport closed or that existing operations stopped.

U.S. prohibitions lifted, safety reviews remain

President Donald Trump announced an initiative in July and signed a determination dated September 30 aimed at allowing direct U.S.-Lebanon flights. The determination revoked four earlier Lebanon-related presidential determinations and their underlying prohibitions, effective immediately. It also directed the transportation secretary to implement the change immediately and revoke inconsistent regulations, rules or orders. The determination was published in the Federal Register on October 5.

The change removed the specified legal prohibitions; it was not operational approval for airlines to begin service. Reuters reported on October 16, 2026, that no restart date had been set. The news organization cited two senior industry officials who expected the airport findings to delay a return, and separately reported that three U.S. airline officials did not expect U.S. carriers to return in the near term, citing security concerns. Those were industry assessments, not a government decision or a confirmed timetable.

The State Department’s Lebanon travel advisory, issued August 21, 2026, is Level 4: Do Not Travel. Its aviation note says the FAA advises caution for flights operating in airspace within 200 nautical miles of the Damascus Flight Information Region because of heightened military activity in or around Syria. That caution concerns airspace near the Damascus region; it does not say Beirut airport is closed or prohibit flights to or from Beirut.