5 days ago
Tourism chief says Beirut airport traffic rising but falls short of summer hopes
Jean Abboud, head of Lebanon's travel and tourism agencies syndicate, said passenger traffic through Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport has seen a 'notable improvement' since the beginning of July, with a steady upward trend in both flights and arrivals.
In a statement, Abboud said the airport now receives between 100 and 105 flights daily, carrying between 17,000 and 18,000 passengers — sometimes even 20,000.
He acknowledged that while the current numbers are solid, the initial momentum of the summer season was dampened by the Iranian-Israeli conflict, which discouraged some visitors from traveling to Lebanon and the wider region.
'Expectations for the 2025 summer season were 20 to 25 percent higher than what we're witnessing now,' Abboud said. 'Hopes were pinned on a season similar to the summer of 2010. Unfortunately, that didn't materialize, and that's disappointing because our economy urgently needs a boost, and tourism is its backbone.'
