Passengers at Beirut’s international airport increase by more than 50 percent in first nine months of 2022

The number of passengers at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport increased by 51.3 percent in the first nine months of 2022 compared to this time last year, with a total of 4.84 million travelers, according to data released by the airport. There were 3.11 million passengers during the same period in 2021.

Nearly half of these passengers (46.9 percent) arrived at the airport during the third quarter of the year, which included a large portion of the summer months. There were 2.27 million passengers at the airport between the beginning of July and the end of September this year, compared to 1.66 million during the same period in 2021. In other words, there was an annual increase of 36.43 percent in the summer months.

In more detail, slightly more than one million travelers arrived in Lebanon by the end of September 2022, compared with 748,483 arrivals during that same period in 2021 — meaning there was a 42.98 percent increase. In terms of departures, 1.2 million passengers took off from the airport at by end of September 2022, compared with 911,053 the year before, representing an increase of 32.13 percent.

In September 2022 alone, the airport recorded a year-on-year increase of 40.51 percent, with 648,935 passengers setting food at the airport. Aviation activity, meanwhile, recorded a 38 percent year-on-year increase, with 39,539 takeoffs and landings in the first nine months of the year.

Source: L’Orient-Le Jour