Beirut International Airport activity receded markedly on a monthly basis in October, with the number of passengers dropping by 18.79% to 530,296, reflecting the seasonal drop at the end of the summer season. Passenger traffic also remained below the 544,253 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 1.09x in October 2026 compared to 1.22x in September 2026, 1.26x in August, and 0.65x in July. On a cumulative basis, the total number of passengers dropped by 19.83% y-o-y to ~4.77 million passengers in the first ten months of 2026 down from 5.95 million passengers a year earlier. More specifically, the number of arriving travelers via the BIA dropped by 13.86% m-o-m and fell by 22.07% on a cumulative basis y-o-y to 2.36 million YTD October 2026. The number of departing travelers also receded by 22.88% m-o-m and dropped by 17.56% on a cumulative basis y-o-y to 2.40 million. The number of transit travelers also waned by 19.69% m-o-m yet increased by 81.98% on a cumulative basis y-o-y to 2,666. As to the number of flights, the latter saw a monthly drop of 11.27% and a cumulative annual drop of 15.77% in the first ten months of the current year to 38,998. It is worth highlighting in this context that the share of Middle East Airlines (MEA) slightly fell from 44.98% of the total number of flights in the first ten months of 2025 to 44.94% by end of October 2026. This is further sketched in the section below: