Airport activity delayed

Year-on-year growth in number of passengers shrinks

Figures released by the Rafic Hariri International Airport (RHIA) show that every aspect of airport activity has undergone annual slowdown.

The total number of passengers using Beirut airport in 2011, including arrivals, departures, and transit, reached around 5,655,000, up by almost two percent from 2010.

In 2010, the total number of passengers had increased by 11 percent from the previous year.

The number of transit passengers in 2011 reached almost 58,500, up by a yearly 45 percent.

The number of incoming passengers rose by two percent year-on-year, totalling 2,815,000 in 2011. The number of outgoing passengers totaled 2,780,000, almost unchanged from the previous year. In 2010, incoming and outgoing passengers had increased by 10.7 and 11.8 percent respectively.

The total number of flights was 63,667, of which 31,830 were incoming . The number of flights was down by 3.7 percent compared to 2010. In that year, the total number of flights had grown by almost 15 percent from 2009.

The airport processed around 73 million tons of freight throughout the year, down by almost four percent compared to 2010. Imported freight totaled 42.41 million tons, while exported freight stood at 31.57 million tons, down by around 7.4 percent on an annual basis.