Ups and downs for Beirut's historic flying club

The Second World War halted the activities but in the 1960s, as Lebanon began to enjoy the post-war boom, so the Aero Club began operations again.

“We started again in 1962,” said the club’s Michel Abboud. “We had the support of the president of the country, the president of Middle East Airlines and the director for civil aviation; you couldn’t ask for better support than that. King Hussein of Jordan gave us two Austers and the club bought a Cessna 150 and had a Cessna 172. By 1965 we had an effective private pilot licence (PPL) programme in place.”

Hundreds of Lebanese pilots have passed through the Aero Club over the past 50 years and many of the people heading the various aerospace companies in the country took their first flights in one of the club’s battered, but well maintained, aircraft.

Mazan Bissat, the owner of Lebanon’s national cargo carrier TMA and Med Airways, took his first tentative flights with the club, as did Haytham Azhari from Open Sky.

Abboud has been president of the club and an instructor and has seen many of the aviation community come through its doors. He has also seen the bad times, as the club was again suspended during the civil war.

“We had had six aircraft and were getting a subsidy from the government of $50,000 and were flying 3,000 hours a year. Then the civil war came and everything stopped,” Abboud said.

In 1995, with relative peace in the country, the club started again, bringing a pair of Cessna 150s and a 172 out of storage and adding a Cessna 206 and a 310 to the fleet.

Without the subsidies, the club has battled to continue but it has done so. With 85 members and 15 students, the club is fighting to stay alive. “We have the passion but it is curtailed by cost,” said Abboud. “Avgas is $3.15 a litre. We reckon on it costing around $13,000 to get a PPL now. But the conditions are perfect. I hope we will see new aircraft coming in with mogas. That will ease costs.”

The club has a chief flight instructor (CFI) and two other instructors and is in talks with Med Air about leasing a Piper Lance.

“We want people to continue enjoying flying after they get their PPL,” said Abboud. “We do a route check for new PPLs taking them to Turkey or the Greek islands. There are also some great places you can fly to around Lebanon.”

The Aero Club also welcomes PPL holders from other clubs around the region. “Documents need to be sent ahead of time,” said Abboud, “We then work with the authority to get a ‘recreational licence’ and then it is a question of understanding the particular restrictions of flying in Lebanese air space.”

The club also organises sightseeing flights and has launched a promotional first-flight experience to encourage more young aspirational Lebanese business people to try out aviation.

“It is a great experience to see Lebanon from the air from the cedar forests to the beaches. We hope more will take it up either for leisure or as the first step in a career in aviation.”