The activity at Rafic Hariri International Airport improved in the first three months of the year 2022. Consequently, the number of Beirut’s International airport passengers went up by 100.94%, as it recorded 1,103,862 passengers by March 2022 compared to 549,342 passengers during the same period last year.
The breakdown of the airport’s statistics revealed that total arrivals added 118.53% year-on-year (YOY) to hit 514,736 by March 2022. By the same token, the number of departing passengers climbed by a yearly 96.15% to reach 581,756 over the same period. Nevertheless, transit passengers decreased from 17,205 by March 2021 to 7,370 passengers by March 2022. It is important to note that in the first three months of the year 2021, Lebanon was on lockdown due to Covid-19, that’s why we witnessed a massive increase in the volumes of passengers in the first three months of 2022 compared to the same period last year. However, we wonder if the increase in fuel prices will lead to a higher airplane tickets, thus dropping down the activity of airport passengers at Rafic Hariri International Airport in the future.
In addition, data on occupancy, as per E&Y benchmark survey, revealed that the occupancy rate in Beirut’s 4- and 5-star hotels reached 34.7% by January 2022, up from last year’s registered 29.5% during the same period. Furthermore, the average room rate has increased by 126.3% from LBP 644,201 in January 2021 to LBP 1,457,817 in January 2022. However, the increase is inflated by valuing the room rates at the official exchange rate of LBP 1,500 for USD, while the black market was approximately LBP/USD 26,500 in January 2022.
Beirut’s Airport Activity By March 2022
Source: Beirut International Airport, BlomInvest
By: Stephanie Aoun