Rafic Hariri International Airport (RHIA) activity improved during the first quarter (Q1) of 2016, as the total number of passengers increased by a yearly 18.40% to 1.63M. In details, the number of arrivals to Lebanon went up by 15.03% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from 662,327 by March 2015 to 761,902 in the same period of 2016. Also, this period witnessed a 20.69% yearly increase in departures, which reached 855,481 by March 2016, compared to 708,840 by March 2015.
As for the number of transit passengers, it grew substantially from 3,658 passengers in the first quarter of 2015 to 10,437 passengers in Q1 2016, which could be partly due to the tensions in neighboring countries where several airports may have become non-operational, driving passengers towards the Lebanese traveling route.
Total Number of Passengers by March
Source: Rafic Hariri International Airport