Beirut Rafic Hariri BEY: the complete layover guide

Beirut Rafic Hariri sits on the coast about 9 km south of central Beirut, and the entire passenger operation lives in a single terminal. Whatever you fly and wherever you are headed, you check in, clear passport control and board from the same building.

The building works on two main levels. Departures and check in occupy the upper level, arrivals and the taxi rank sit at ground level, and once you pass passport control you walk into a duty free core with the gates beyond it. The Cedar Lounge looks over the concourse from the second floor, reached by a lift or stairs just after passport control. Walks are short by hub standards, ten minutes covers most gate runs, and there is no terminal change to plan for, ever.

The honest context first. Lebanon's security situation has hit air service repeatedly from 2024 through 2026, and BEY has run through stretches where Middle East Airlines, the national carrier, was close to the only airline flying. The airport stayed open through the disruption, but foreign carriers suspended and returned in waves. As of June 2026 the airport is open and handling scheduled traffic: Turkish Airlines resumed Beirut flights from 1 May 2026, Emirates returned the same month, and Etihad operates three weekly services, while the overall schedule remains thinner than before the crisis and flights can still be cancelled at short notice. The United States holds Lebanon at Level 4, Do Not Travel, and ordered the departure of non emergency government staff in February 2026; several other governments advise against all or most travel to Lebanon. None of that closes the airport, but it does mean two practical things: check your flight status the day before and again on the day, and read your own government's travel advisory before booking a connection through BEY.

Getting into the city is straightforward when the roads are calm. There is no metro or rail anywhere in Lebanon, so the trip happens by road. Regulated airport taxis, white cars with yellow and black roof signs, pick up from the stand outside arrivals and cover the roughly 9 km to Hamra or downtown in 20 to 30 minutes outside rush hour, longer when traffic builds. Recent fare guides put the run at about 20 to 30 US dollars; agree the fare before you set off, and carry US dollars in cash, because Lebanon's banking crisis has made card payments unreliable across the city. App cars operate in Beirut, but pickup at the airport itself is dominated by the licensed taxi stand, so most travelers simply take the official car.

Leaving the airport on a layover means clearing Lebanese immigration. Many nationalities have historically received a visa on arrival at BEY, but rules shift with the situation, so verify before travel. One rule is firm and worth stating plainly: Lebanon refuses entry to travelers whose passports carry Israeli stamps or other evidence of travel to Israel. This is applied at the border and it is not a formality. If it could affect you, the safe plan is to stay airside, and either way you should confirm the current requirements with a Lebanese embassy or your airline before you commit to leaving the terminal.