Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, like other airports around the world, experienced a significant decrease in traffic in 2020, largely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to data published by the National News Agency, the airport’s passenger activity declined by 71.28% last year compared to 2019.
The numbers show that the total of passengers recorded by the airport throughout 2020 was 2,492,279, whereas it was 8,677,944 the year before.
The total of inbound travelers decreased by 72.62%, from 4,278,914 to 1,171,300, between 2019 and 2020. Similarly, the number of outbound passengers dropped from 4,388,247 to 1,315,217 — a 70.02% decrease, during the same period.
The number of transit passengers also plummeted in 2020, by 46.56%, standing at 5,762 in total, compared to 10,783 in the previous year.
Notably, the airport experienced a decline of 48.11% in activity in December 2020, during which 282,407 passengers were registered in total, compared to 544,342 in December 2019.
Naturally, overall aircraft activity at Beirut Airport also decreased last year, by 61.31%, as only 27,026 trips by national and international carriers were registered, whereas 69,866 were recorded in 2019.
This translates to a near-60% drop in inbound trips between 2019 (33,729) and 2020 (13,514) and a similar drop of approximately 62% (36,137 to 13,512) in outbound flights during the same period.
Entering 2021, a decline of 55.14% in passengers has been recorded so far in January (143,670 as of Jan. 17th), compared to the same time last year (320,272).