In Pictures

Lebanon’s military gives tourists helicopter rides to raise cash

Lebanon’s struggling military is trying to make much-needed money by selling helicopter tours to tourists.

A Lebanese army pilot prepares a R44 Raven II helicopter for tourists at the Rayak airbase in the Bekaa Valley. Since July 2021, Lebanon’s struggling military has been offering tourists helicopter rides in a desperate bid to raise money. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

Lebanon is in the midst of one of the deepest depressions in modern history according to the World Bank. Hyperinflation has seen the Lebanese pound lose more than 90 percent of its value in less than two years and more than half of the population has sunk into poverty.

The capital Beirut is now the third-most expensive city in the world, according to the 2021 Mercer Cost of Living Survey.

Amid this economic meltdown, the country’s people and institutions have been forced to improvise new and unconventional ways of generating extra income. The struggling army has started offering helicopter tours to tourists in a bid to boost morale and raise must-needed cash for maintenance.

Both tourists and Lebanese citizens can sign up for 15-minute rides on the military’s website, billed as a way to see “Lebanon … from above”. Tours on the R44 Robinson “Raven” helicopters – usually reserved for student pilots in their first year of training – depart from both Rayak and Amchit airbases, and offer scenic views.

It is particularly telling that the army has resorted to moonlighting as tour guides, given that the military has underpinned Lebanon’s stability since the end of the civil war in 1990. Despite significant US military support, the economic crisis has made it hard for the army to maintain its budget for equipment, maintenance and supplies.

Last month, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun warned that the economic crisis – partly caused by decades of government corruption and profligacy – would soon lead to the breakdown of all state institutions, including the army.

Lebanon was without a functioning government for 13 months following the massive explosion at Beirut’s port in August 2020 – which killed more than 200 people and destroyed large swathes of the city – until a new cabinet was finally formed last week.

Foreign currency cash reserves have plummeted, causing fuel, electricity and medicine shortages.

In the meantime, the Lebanese military is aiming for about 1,000 hours of leisure flights this year. Each ride will cost $150, meaning the programme could net the military $300,000 by the end of the year.

A Lebanese soldier now earns just $90 a month – down from almost $850 before the crisis.

View of the port in Beirut. — "The Gesture”, left, is a 25m (82 foot)-high sculpture made from the wreckage of the Beirut port blast to commemorate the victims of the August 2020 explosion. Since the blast, Lebanon has recorded the fourth-highest inflation rate in the world, at 85.45 percent. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

Hundreds of cars line up in the early morning to buy fuel at a gas station on the outskirts of Beirut. The economic collapse, which has caused huge hardship over the past two years, has now hit a crisis point with fuel shortages paralysing crucial services and miles-long queues forming at gas stations with little or no petrol to sell. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

Lebanese military servicemen help tourists board a Lebanese Army R44 helicopter. The trip involves a 15-minute ride across the Bekaa valley from Rayak. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

Aerial view of the entrance to the Rayak airbase. Tourist helicopter tours now depart from both here and the Amchit airbase to help the Lebanese army make ends meet. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of a village surround by farmland, taken during a helicopter tour provided by the Lebanese military from Rayak. The fertile Bekaa Valley in the east is Lebanon's most important area for farming and agriculture. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of a car graveyard during a helicopter tour provided by the Lebanese military from Rayak airbase. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of a mosque in a small town in the Bekaa Valley, which is situated between Mount Lebanon to the west and the Anti-Lebanon mountains to the east. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of the Al Rihab Resort, Maalaqah, during a helicopter tour provided by the Lebanese military. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of Our Lady of Zahle and the Bekaa - a shrine to the Virgin Mary located in the city of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley. Nearly one-third of Lebanese people are Christian, with Muslims being the majority. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

An aerial view of shepherds tending to their sheep and goats in the Bekaa Valley. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]

A tourist finishes his helicopter tour with the Lebanese Air Force at Rayak Airbase in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. The Lebanese Army offering tourists helicopter tours to survive — A tourist leaves the helicopter after his tour with the Lebanese military at the Rayak airbase. [Tariq Zaidi/Al Jazeera]