Rayak Air Base
Rayak Air Base قاعدة رياق الجوية Base Aérienne de Rayak | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Lebanese Armed Forces | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Lebanese Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Rayak, Lebanon | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,953 ft / 900 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°51′08″N 35°59′25″E / 33.85222°N 35.99028°E | ||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Rayak Air Base (Arabic: قاعدة رياق الجوية | Kaidat Rayak al-jawiya) (ICAO: OLRA) is Lebanon's first air base and the place where the Lebanese Air Force was born on June 1, 1949. In the 1950s, the RAF sent its own instructors to help the Lebanese Airforce. British families accompanied instructors. The base had connections with Airforce bases in Cyprus. It was an idyllic location situated very close to a vineyard which now supplies wines throughout Europe, including London. Located in the middle of the Bekaa Valley to the east, between the towns of Zahlé and Anjar, it symbolizes the Lebanese Air Force best, and is home for most of the aircraft types that have seen service and the final resting place for almost all retiring planes.
The airfield has been in use since 1914 by various foreign forces such as German, Ottoman, British and French.