Cabinet approves creation of Beirut Airport Company, paving the way for privatization

Cabinet approved, during its meeting on Monday, the creation of the Beirut International Airport Company, a joint-stock company aimed at moving part of the management and operation of Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA), a public infrastructure, toward privatization.

The decision follows a request submitted by the Public Works and Transport Ministry to create this company, whose purpose is to provide "airport, air navigation, communications, and meteorology services, as well as all related and derivative activities," according to the minutes of the Cabinet meeting.

According to the decision, the company will have a term of 30 years, renewable from the date of its official establishment. Its capital will amount to one billion Lebanese liras, or about $11,170 at the current market rate, divided into 1,000 registered shares valued at one million liras each, or about $11 each.

The state will initially hold all the shares, but the decision leaves the door open for a partial or total sale later, through the Beirut Stock Exchange, subject to the approval of the Cabinet.

This sale must be decided by the Cabinet, following a proposal from the minister of Public Works and Transport, authorizing the offering of shares to the public through the Beirut Stock Exchange.

The company will be managed by a board of directors consisting of six members, including a chairperson, appointed by decree of the Cabinet upon the proposal of the minister of Public Works and Transport.

The ownership of real estate, facilities, and equipment belonging to the RHIA or any other airport "will permanently remain the property of the Lebanese state," according to the minutes.

This decision comes alongside an agreement signed on June 4 between the Lebanese government and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to launch a consulting partnership on public-private partnerships (PPP) in the country's airports.

As part of this partnership, the IFC is advising the authorities on structuring a PPP intended to support the rehabilitation, expansion, financing, operation, and maintenance of the RHIA. It is also conducting a feasibility study for the development of Qleiaat Airport as Lebanon's second international entry point.