Dr. Hamdi Chaouk

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  www.janes.com/news/transport/business/jar/jar071019_1_n - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/19/2007    Last Visited: 1/9/2008  

  "We see empty aircraft sometimes," says Hamdi Chaouk, director general of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the country's aviation operator and regulator."Most passengers, if not all, are Lebanese," he adds.
  
  Political instability is not only affecting the airport's earnings but has also hit the CAA's 20-year plan to upgrade RHIA; turn the inactive Iaat airport near the eastern city of Baalbek into a cargo and charter hub; and turn Rayak airport in the centre of the country into a training and private jet facility.
  
  "All the ideas are on hold until the government is stable again, as all this requires stability, so there is no investment," says Chaouk, adding that there are still long-term plans to expand RHIA to handle 16 million passengers by 2035."More expansion, more development [is required] as time goes by," he said, adding: "The airport is just waiting for more passengers."

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  flying-wings.com/index.php/Middle-East/Beirut-Airport-R - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/23/2007    Last Visited: 12/23/2007  

  "We operate in a very extraordinary manner here, because we live in a very critical and unstable situation", with these words Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, Director General of Civil Aviation at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport , described the daily business at the airport.

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  www.beirut-online.net/portal/article.php?id=1611 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/22/2007    Last Visited: 12/3/2007  

  "We see empty aircraft sometimes," says Hamdi Chaouk, director general of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the country's aviation operator and regulator."Most passengers, if not all, are Lebanese," he adds.
  
  Political instability is not only affecting the airport's earnings but has also hit the CAA's 20-year plan to upgrade RHIA; turn the inactive Iaat airport near the eastern city of Baalbek into a cargo and charter hub; and turn Rayak airport in the centre of the country into a training and private jet facility.
  
  "All the ideas are on hold until the government is stable again, as all this requires stability, so there is no investment," says Chaouk, adding that there are still long-term plans to expand RHIA to handle 16 million passengers by 2035."More expansion, more development [is required] as time goes by," he said, adding: "The airport is just waiting for more passengers."

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  Beirut International Airport gets CUTE with SITA - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/13/2004    Last Visited: 10/5/2008  

  "We wanted to have state-of-the-art and proven IT systems in place to ensure that Beirut International Airport boasts a solid communication infrastructure offering high levels of support for the airlines using the airport's facilities", said Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, Director General of the Lebanese Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

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  EXECUTIVE Business Magazine Online - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/11/2005    Last Visited: 9/24/2006  

  Chaouk said since 2003, the DGCA has granted only five AOC's to a total of 25 charter plane applicants
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  Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority director general for the past three years, Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, strongly denied the suggestion that the DGCA was being pressured to cover up inspections or reinstate certificates."No way on earth," he stated, although he acknowledged that early in his tenure at least one attempt had been made to influence a DGCA decision.
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  It was precisely this revelation, in 2003, Chaouk explained, which prompted him to totally overhaul the flight safety department and bring in ICAO staff."They are well-paid.They cannot be influenced politically.They cannot be influenced socially."Chaouk said that ICAO staff are now present at every aircraft inspection conducted at Beirut Airport.As a consequence he added, the possibility of a cover-up was "almost zero."
  
  For its part, the ICAO's headquarters in Canada did not immediately respond to Executive's request for a comment on the matter, while an ICAO staff member working in Lebanon said he could only speak to Executive with the permission of Chaouk who declined to grant it.
  
  Chaouk said that the assistance of ICAO staff working at Beirut Airport, two $1.2 million ICAO programs funded by the Lebanese government, and a two-year-old law giving him greater powers to suspend AOCs had made Beirut Airport tougher on air safety than any other airport in the region.He admitted that his efforts to tighten the screws had created political friction.
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  Chaouk also acknowledged that he was in need of additional qualified manpower.
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  Chaouk conceded the ICAO presence had compensated for the Lebanese manpower shortfall so that aircraft safety and the inspection process were no longer being jeopardized.Meanwhile, Chaouk stressed that no one should doubt his department's commitment to air safety.
  
  "We prevent unsatisfactory aircraft from even flying over Lebanon," he noted."We are known to be the toughest in the Middle East.We even have a list of aircraft [Tupolev and Antonov] that we don't allow to land here anymore.We inspected so many of them in the past and they all failed.Many European countries still let these aircraft land."As part of the Lebanese civil aviation restructuring program, Chaouk will soon publish a blacklist (see box) of countries and airlines that are banned from flying to Lebanon, and claims that with the help of the ICAO staff currently in Lebanon the DGCA has checked "almost every" aircraft using Beirut Airport."We may be seen as extreme.But this is the only way to clean up the whole market," he declared.
  
  In an indication of the stringency of DGCA supervision, he said, over the last two years the DGCA has granted AOCs to a total of only five out of 25 Lebanese charter applicants - MenaJet, Flying Carpet, ASAS, Executive Aircraft Services and Berytos airlines.He said another five charter airlines were currently applying for AOCs."We inspect the charter aircraft currently operating," he went on."We are continually monitoring.Whenever there is any problem, we immediately stop the aircraft or airline from operating."And what the DGCA giveth, it also taketh away.Chaouk said that as many as 12 Lebanese AOCs had been suspended over the last two years - again an indication of how serious his department is about ensuring aircraft airworthiness.

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  ITPBusiness.net {News: Beirut International opts for... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/13/2004    Last Visited: 7/13/2004  

  "We wanted to have state-of-the-art and proven IT systems in place to ensure that Beirut International Airport boasts a solid communication infrastructure offering high levels of support for the airlines using the airport's facilities," say Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, Director General of the Lebanese Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

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  John Molson School of Business - News & Publications - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/1/2004    Last Visited: 12/7/2005  

  The International Aviation MBA Program, Concordia University is pleased to announce that Hamdi Chaouk, Director General of Civil Aviation of Lebanon, and Representative of Lebanon to ICAO, will speak on the challenges of open skies and liberalisation, as part of the IAMBA Distinguished Speakers Series.
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  Dr. Hamdi Chaouk
  
  Dr. Hamdi Chaouk is the Director General of Civil Aviation of Lebanon, and currently appointed as the Representative of Lebanon to ICAO.Dr. Chaouk obtained his Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering from The University of Sydney, Australia.He is the author of a number of publications on aviation advanced materials.He holds a number of both professional and academic affiliations and has been a consultant to both ministries and companies in the UK, Australia, and the Gulf States.

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  News - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/9/2004    Last Visited: 9/16/2004  

  'We wanted to have state-of-the-art and proven IT systems in place to ensure that Beirut International Airport boasts a solid communication infrastructure offering high levels of support for the airlines using the airport's facilities,' said Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, Director General of the Lebanese Directorate General of Civil Aviation. 'SITA is the acknowledged leader in shared systems and we are confident that their services will provide us with the advanced capabilities we need.

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  The Middle East Association - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/15/2009    Last Visited: 9/15/2009  

  Dr. Hamdi Chaouk, Director General, Lebanese Civil Aviation

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  United Jerusalem - - Israel-News Today -- 9/8/2006 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/8/2006    Last Visited: 9/8/2006  

  But instead the airport found itself the target of Israeli bombs, damaging its three runways and taxiways, said Hamdi Chaouk, director general of civil aviation. Paragraph-9 Contains
  
  Mr Chaouk told the Financial Times that all but one hole had been repaired and he was confident that business would shortly reach normal levels, describing the airport as the "gate of Lebanon". Paragraph-10 Contains
  
  "It,s a big issue, especially the airport, it,s like telling people their country is closed and there are no communications with the rest of the world," he said.

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