Beirut private pilots have door opened for Europe
General aviation pilots in Lebanon who have virtually been stranded to local flights only in the country's only civil airfield in Beirut will now be able to resume international sorties.
Obstacles by authorities in Cyprus which had virtually prohibited GA pilots from using the island as a refuelling or visiting point have been relaxed.
Now GA pilots – with pre-clearance from AOPA Lebanon – and with 72 hours notice can now make the one hour flight from Beirut to Larnaca and from there to other destinations across Europe.
Cyprus is working on reducing these restrictions to 24 hours. Landing fees have also been reduced to 112 Euros from the previously prohibitive €450.
With Beirut’s flying club having ordered two new glass cockpit Cessna 172s leisure pilots are expecting to begin resuming their weekend hobby flying to Europe soon.
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