Nearly 1.96 Million Passengers Pass Through Ben Gurion in October; Traffic to UAE Halves

In depth

Around 1.96 million passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport in October, an increase of about 6% compared with the same month last year, according to data from the Israel Airports Authority. The market share of Israeli airlines rose to about 54%, and El Al led by a wide margin.

El Al continues to lead with more than a third of the market, and Wizz Air is approaching Israir. Traffic to the United Arab Emirates fell by about 50%, while Etihad flew about 69 thousand passengers in October, 3.66% of passenger traffic at Ben Gurion. In the same month, the suspension of flydubai's route to Dubai almost wiped out all traffic to that destination.

Traffic to Italy, Germany and Japan surged, and Greece was the most sought-after destination. Since the start of the year, international traffic has recorded a decline of 0.45% compared with the same period last year.