The activity at Rafic Hariri International Airport improved remarkably in the first half of the year 2022. The number of Beirut’s International airport passengers added 77.88% and recorded 2,567,872 passengers by June 2022 compared to 1,443,580 passengers during the same period last year.
The breakdown of the airport’s statistics revealed that total arrivals jumped by 78.55% year-on-year (YOY) to stand at 1,304,649 by June 2022. By the same token, the number of departing passengers climbed by a yearly 83.90% to reach 1,247,684 over the same period. Nevertheless, transit passengers decreased from 34,418 by June 2021 to 15,539 transit passengers by June 2022.
For the month of June 2022 alone, airport passengers reached 579,298 passengers up from 391,667 in June 2021, with 340,317 arrivals and 235,864 departures instead of 234,519 and 148,137, respectively, in June 2021. Meanwhile transit passengers stood at 3,117 down from 9,011 same month last year.
The month of June 2022 has turned the trend of passengers’ situation for Lebanon as the number of arrivals passengers exceeded the number of departing passengers for the first time in 2022. Noting that this is normally seen during the peak summer season for Lebanon as this trend has noticed during June and July 2021. Despite remarkable improvements in numbers of airport passengers, the numbers are very limited compared to years of 2019. However, expectations are as high as private sector in Lebanon waits promising summer season.
Beirut’s Airport Activity By June
Source: Beirut International Airport, BlomInvest