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The positive impact of this development on the Lebanese economy will also be marking on both - short and long run. The competitiveness and efficiency of the local industries will increase in order to better serve the tourists and businessmen. RHIAB is located in the Khaldeh suburb south of the capital and around 8kms distant from Beirut downtown. It was opened in 1954 and is the only civil airport in the country. The old airport was renovated in 1977, and the present runways were rehabilitated between 1982 and 1984. The Israeli invasion of 1982 caused considerable damage to most sections of the old terminal building.

The execution of the first phase of the new airport started in 1994 and was inaugurated in 1998. However, the second phase was inaugurated on the fifth of July 2000 and the operation started on the sixth of June 2002. The total area covered by RHIAB is around 7 million square meters and the overall area of the terminal building is 150000 square meters. RHIAB has been redeveloped to handle 6 million passengers per year and to receive 30 aircrafts at the same time. It has 84 passenger counters, 21 passenger gates, and the parking area has a capacity of 2250 cars. Future development plans aim at handling 16 million passengers by the year 2035