Nearly two million travelers passed through Ben Gurion Airport in March, says Airports Authority.
By Pesach Benson, TPS
Nearly two million travelers passed through Ben Gurion Airport in March, making that month the busiest in the international airport’s history, the Israel Airports Authority announced on Sunday.
Overall, 1,983,428 passengers traveled the airport on 13,490 international and domestic flights.
The number represented a 57 percent increase over March 2022, around the time Israel began easing travel restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The month’s most popular destination — with 117,239 passengers — was Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE marketed Passover travel packages ahead of the week-long holiday and Israeli Transportation Ministry officials estimated that 100,000 Israelis would visit the Gulf state for the holiday.
However, the US remained the most popular country. According to the Airports Authority, 190,249 passengers, or 10 percent of the airport’s travelers, flew to destinations in the US.
Travel to the US is expected to increase with Israel expected to formally join the US Visa Waiver program in September. The program allows citizens of designated countries to enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa. Forty countries are already in the program, which Israel has long-sought to join.
The Airports Authority also said that El Al, Israel’s flagship carrier, also flew its highest number of passengers — 432,365, representing more than 20 percent of all travelers who passed through Ben Gurion.
The airline launched four new lines in March, with regular weekly flights to Tokyo, Istanbul, Dublin and the Portuguese city of Porto. The direct flights to Tokyo were made possible when Oman announced in February that it would allow Israeli flights to cross its airspace.
Saudi Arabia began permitting Israeli overflights in August, but direct routes to destinations in India and China still have to overfly Oman. The Saudi-Omani overflights have cut roughly two hours off flight times to destinations such as India and the Far East.
The wave of passengers passing through Ben Gurion is expected to continue in April. Before Passover, Tourism Ministry officials said 60,000 tourists were expected to spend the Passover and Easter holidays in Israel.