Beirut International Airport activity improved markedly on a monthly basis in July, with the number of passengers increasing by 63.46% month-on-month to 722,313, reflecting the seasonal pickup in travel at the start of the summer season. Nevertheless, passenger traffic remained well below the 793,367 level recorded a year earlier, as expatriates and tourists remained cautious about the risk of renewed hostilities in the  region. Additionally, the hike in ticket prices due to the increase in the price of oil may also have contributed to the annual drop. The ratio of departing to arriving passengers attained 0.65x in July 2026 compared to 0.74x in June, 0.82x in May, and 1.09x in April. On a cumulative basis, the total number of passengers dropped by 27.50% y-o-y to ~2.75 million passengers in the first seven months of 2026 down from 3.80 million passengers a year earlier. More specifically, the number of arriving travelers via the BIA increased by 71.96% m-o-m while dropping by 30.32% y-o-y to 1.44 million YTD July 2026. The number of departing travelers also rose by 52.04% m-o-m yet receded by 24.17% y-o-y to 1.30 million. The number of transit travelers, on the other hand, increased by 0.82% m-o-m and by 125.84% y-o-y to 1,940. As to the number of flights, the latter saw a monthly increase of 50.03% and an annual drop of 21.33% in the first seven months of the current year to 23,554. It is worth highlighting in this context that the share of Middle East Airlines (MEA) dropped from 48.26% of the total number of flights in the first seven months of 2025 to 47.63% by end of July 2026. This is further sketched in the section below: