🇱🇧 Rene Mouawad Air Base / Kleyate Airport

Rene Mouawad Air Base, also known as Kleyate Airport (IATA: KYE, ICAO: OLKA), is a joint civil and military airport located in the Akkar District of northern Lebanon, approximately 22 km northeast of Tripoli city and 6 km from the Lebanese-Syrian border,.

Notable Features and History:

• Originally built by the French army in 1938, it began civil aviation use in the early 1960s, primarily for the Tripoli oil company.
• In 1966, the Lebanese Army took control and expanded it into a modern joint civil-military airport.
• It resumed civil aviation activity in 1990 with Middle East Airlines flights between Kleyate and Beirut.
• The airport was bombed by the Israeli Air Force in 2006 but has since been repaired and returned to service.
• It has one concrete runway (06/24) measuring 3,000 meters (9,843 feet),.

Current Status:

• As of 2025, the Lebanese government has advanced plans to rehabilitate and reopen the airport as a second international airport, with work expected to begin in early 2026.
• On March 25, 2025, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced that the airport would be functional as a civilian airport within a year,.
• The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has officially launched the implementation phase of the development project.
• The airport will be developed and operated by Sky Lounge Services.
• Initial operations aim to launch flights to Mersin, Istanbul, and Dubai, with plans to attract low-cost carriers.
• The vision includes transforming Kleyate into an integrated economic and logistics platform with air cargo activities and a dedicated Cargo Village.
• Currently, there is very little military activity, with SA 330 Puma helicopters stationed there.
• The airport primarily provides aerodrome services by military authorities, with VFR traffic permitted.

*Sources researched: en.wikipedia.org, airportsinternational.com, lb.ivao.aero, centreforaviation.com*