Judge orders transport companies operating at airport to repay fees collected for PCR tests

BEIRUT — The Attorney General at the Court of Auditors Judge Fawzi Khamis on Tuesday ordered airlines and ground service operators working at Beirut International Airport to pay the Health Ministry and the Lebanese University “in fresh dollars” a portion of the revenues for PCR tests done there.

Here’s what we know:

    • This decision comes amid allegations that millions of dollars in fees for PCR tests collected by airlines were not paid to the Health Ministry and the Lebanese University, who are responsible for conducting these PCR tests. The allegations led Judge Khamis to take the case and open an investigation into the matter.

    • In a four-page decision issued on Tuesday, Judge Khamis instructed the President and Director General of Civil Aviation Fady al-Hassan to "notify as soon as possible all airlines and ground service operators to the Beirut Airport of the need to transfer to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese University the amounts, in fresh dollars, that they have collected, in order to [prevent] illicit enrichment at the expense of these two institutions.”

    • On Jan. 10, the government began requiring travelers arriving at the Beirut airport to undergo a PCR test to be paid for in advance on the electronic platform of the Health Ministry. The initial cost of this test was $50, before it was revised down to $30.