Christians Want Own Airport : In Warring Lebanon, No Happy Landings

A stretch of the Beirut-to-Tripoli highway here that has been converted into a makeshift airport runway has become the latest focus of the 11-year conflict between Lebanon’s Christians and Muslims.

Lebanese Christian leaders have been demanding that the nation’s air carrier, Middle East Airlines, begin operations from the new runway, about 15 miles north of Beirut.

The Christians maintain that anarchy prevailing in predominantly Muslim West Beirut makes it unsafe for Christian passengers to travel to Beirut International Airport on the capital’s southern outskirts, a journey that in the past has often been marked by gun battles and kidnapings.

Airport Shelled

Seeming to underscore that contention, artillery shells were fired into Beirut International Airport in January, setting a MEA jetliner ablaze. Many people in Beirut suspected the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia organization, of responsibility for the attack.

The shellings finally forced Beirut airport to shut down operations at the end of January when insurance companies withdrew coverage for passengers.

The move has left Lebanon without an airport for nearly two months. To travel by air, Muslims must now drive over snow-covered mountains to reach Damascus in neighboring Syria, while Christians have been forced to come and go by way of two ferryboats to Larnaca, Cyprus, adding two days to a round-trip journey and costing upwards of $300.

Presently a Standoff

“We said either MEA is for everyone or its not for anybody,” said Dany Chamoun, a prominent Christian politician, in explaining the airport closure. “At the moment, we have a standoff.”

The Jubayl-Halat airport, as the stretch of converted roadway here has been named, is currently used by the Lebanese government’s tiny air force as a landing strip for two Hawker Hunter jet planes.

Christian officials want the airport opened to commercial traffic, but they concede that the 2,100-yard runway is too short for any planes in MEA’s present fleet.

Chamoun urged the airline to obtain a small passenger aircraft, such as the Fokker Friendship, for use at Halat. He said officials from both Air France and from the Fokker company in West Germany have visited the site and approved its use for small aircraft.

Stretch of Highway Converted

The runway was converted from a section of highway near Jubayl--the northern Lebanese port also known by its ancient name, Byblos--at a cost said to be around $16 million.

The runway looks like freshly laid asphalt, but it also runs across a bridge at midpoint, which gives it the appearance of angling sharply from level ground.

The runway is surrounded by steep cliffs. It has no radar, and the only lighting is a string of light bulbs laid out like Christmas decorations.

Despite such drawbacks, Christian leaders believe that the airport would serve as a viable alternative to Beirut International and the ferryboats, making short flights to Amman, Jordan, or even to Athens feasible.

‘A Symbol of Our Will’

“Halat represents the possibility of getting to fly from Lebanon,” said Cesar Nassar, a spokesman for the Lebanese Forces. “It’s a symbol of our will.”

Nassar said that 55,000 Christians were forced to use the ferryboat service to Cyprus in the last six months alone.

The Lebanese Forces, which run their own television station, have been promoting the airport for several months in television commercials that show the name “Halat” rocketing majestically down the runway into the air. A jingle proclaims, “Halat hatmat”-- “Halat is inevitable.”

A joke making the rounds in Beirut lampoons the advertisement by saying “Halat--abidan, “ meaning the airport will never open.

Mark of Disintegration?

Muslim leaders are as eager as Christians to have a functioning airport for the nation, but they say they are reluctant to approve the creation of another airport for Beirut because it would stand as another symbol of Lebanon’s disintegration into rival Christian and Muslim communities.

“Will travel agents in Paris write a ticket which says ‘Christian Beirut’ or ‘Muslim Beirut?’ ” asked one politician who opposes two airports.

Some Christian officials believe that the issue will become moot now that more than 7,000 Syrian troops have been deployed in West Beirut in a move to end the chaotic situation there.

The Syrians have banished militia gunmen from West Beirut’s streets and have massed hundreds of tanks and artillery pieces at the Beirut airport, making its runways much less likely to come under fire from Christian militiamen.

“As long as there are Syrian troops at Beirut airport, I don’t want to use it,” Chamoun said.

In the absence of a political agreement, the Halat airport would also be vulnerable to shelling from the Muslim side, even if Middle East Airlines agreed to start service from the new runway.