The latest figures released by the Rafic Hariri International Airport (BIA) show that BIA’s performance in 2025 has noted a marked improvement in year-on-year passenger activity. Total number of passengers increased by 24.7% in 2025 when compared to 2024, reaching 7,008,690 in the former, up from 5,620,320 in the latter. During 2025, arrivals at BIA recorded 3,591,674 individuals showing a year-on-year increase of 30.0% against the year prior and noting the highest concentration of arrivals since 2019. In parallel, departures increased by 19.6% year-on-year to reach 3,417,016 individuals in 2025. Additionally, the number of aircraft increased by 19.0% year-on-year while the total freight handled by the airport increased by 17.9% year-on-year during 2025.  It is worth noting that passenger arrivals reached a recovery rate of 83.9% in 2025 against levels recorded in the same period of 2019. This shows an improvement of 19.4 percentage points (pps), from the recovery rate during 2024 and a 2.7 pps improvement against 2023 levels, pointing to a clear return to pre-conflict levels of tourism with added momentum.  During December 2025, total passenger activity reached 594,518 passengers, noting a year-on-year jump of 56.5%, up from 379,880 passengers in December 2024. This figure is the highest number of passenger activity recorded over the month of December since 2018. During the month, 4,949 total landings and takeoffs have been recorded in BIA. This jump in tourism is likely attributable to the visit of Pope Leo XIV,compounding the natural high season effect of December of tourism in Lebanon. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: LWM, Bank Audi, 12-18 Jan 2026