Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport was down 72% in March 2020 in comparison with March 2019, according to an Israel Airports Authority report released today. The coronavirus crisis cut the number of passengers passing through the airport from 1.7 million in March last year to 472,000 in March this year. February's total was 1.4 million.
The decline will grow steeper in April, with an almost complete halt in scheduled commercial air traffic. On April 5, for example, passenger traffic in all of Europe's airports amounted to just 120,000, 98% below the number on the same date in 2019.
Parcels instead of people: More and more cargo flights are filling the flight timetable at Ben Gurion Airport. Today, twenty-three cargo flights will pass through Ben Gurion, six international passenger flights (of United Airlines, Aeroflot, and Ethiopian Airlines), and four domestic passenger flights, by Israir to Eilat Ramon Airport. The figures are for landings and takeoffs combined.
Around the world, more than 100 airports are shut, many of them serving only as parking lots for thousands of grounded aircraft. About 140 airports (Ben Gurion among them) have closed some of their terminals. In 2019, passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport totaled 24.5 million. For this year as a whole, the number is expected to be around ten million.
According to the Israel Airports Authority report, domestic aviation, of which only two daily flights by Israir to Eilat remain, was down 35% in March this year in comparison with March last year.
670 passengers flew to Israel in March on private flights, which compares with 1,670 in March last year.
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) carried some 111,000 passengers in March this year, before halting its flights. This is 74% fewer than in March 2019. El Al's market share at Ben Gurion Airport in March this year was 23.5%.
United Airlines, one of the few airlines still flying to Israel, carried 33,300 passengers to and from Ben Gurion Airport in March; Turkish Airlines, which was still flying last month, carried 32,500 passengers; and EasyJet carried 32,000.
All the airlines experienced a decline in passenger numbers to Israel, a decline that, along with the prohibition of foreigners entering Israel, led to the cancellation of most flights. The takeoff and landing slots will be kept for the airlines for when they eventually renew their schedules.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 20, 2020
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