The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) estimates that 1.5 million passengers will pass through Ben Gurion airport around the time of the Passover holiday in April, as the tourist industry recovers from the impact of the Covid pandemic. In March, the IAA expects 1 million passengers to pass through the airport, after 700,000 passed through in February 2021, half the number of the 1.4 million passengers who passed through in February 2020, before the pandemic struck.
The IAA believes that the number of passengers that will pass through Ben Gurion airport during the week-long Passover holiday will be close to the record number that passed through in Passover 2019, pre-Covid.
The most popular destinations for outgoing Israeli passengers during Passover are Turkey, Italy, Greece and the US followed by the UK and UAE.
The peak day for passenger traffic at the airport this month is expected to be Thursday, March 31 when 57,000 passengers will pass through and next month on Sunday, April 24, after the end of the Passover holiday, when 70,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport.
With expected congestion at the airport the IAA is deploying more staff but warns that, "this year the public will need patience and tolerance." To ease the congestion, the IAA will recommence operating Terminal 1 for low-cost flights from March 27 between 5am and 6pm each day.
The IAA is also inaugurating a pre-check in service for baggage at Ben Gurion airport (Sun-Thu 4pm-8pm and Fri 8am-1pm) within 24 hours of flights to certain destinations.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 8, 2022.
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