BEIRUT — 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.
In September, the airport recorded 17,938 flights, which was an increase of 27.75 percent compared to the same period last year. Some 2,540 aircraft took off from the Beirut airport, a 28 percent increase compared to the same month in 2021, and 2,540 aircraft landed at the airport, an increase of 27.42 percent.
This summer was promising for tourism stakeholders, who estimated that this season would bring in nearly $3 billion. The season’s numbers brought a breath of fresh air for those who have suffered financial losses from the country’s broader economic crisis in the past three years.
Indeed, the tourism sector has suffered acutely as purchasing power declined, with the lira having lost more than 95 percent of its value (the exchange rate hovered around LL38,000 to the dollar last week).
In addition, tourism and aviation shut down during several COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, while tourism sites in Beirut also suffered damage due to the Beirut port explosion on Aug. 4, 2020.
This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
