Continuing the trend from earlier months, November 2017 also ended with an increase in passenger traffic: 1.45 million passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport in November, 18% more than in November 2016. Passenger traffic totaled 18.8 million in January-November, 16% more than in the corresponding period last year. Traffic was boosted by Ryanair, which began full activity in Israel in October this year, and has flown 55,800 passengers from Ben Gurion Airport.
The number of airplanes going through the Ben Gurion Airport in November was 10,117, 17% more than in November 2016.
November is regarded as a weak month in passenger traffic, but the number of passengers traveling abroad continued to grow, among other things due to the relatively low prices in November and the popularity of business trips at this time, before the Christian holidays, when many businesses shut down.
A map of the cities visited by Israelis shows a diverse picture; they include New York, Paris, Rome, London, Amsterdam, and Bucharest. Many passengers also continued onwards from Istanbul and Moscow to other destinations (including the US, for example).
On what airlines did Israelis travel?
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) carried 400,000 passengers , a 3.5% change from last year. Turkish Airlines was in second place with 88,000 passengers, 8% more than last year. UK airline easyJet came in third in November with 76,000 passengers, 27% more than in the corresponding month last year, followed by Hungarian carrier Wizz Air, whose passenger business in Israel reached 71,000 in November, double last year's number.
Russian airline Aeroflot, which is growing stronger in the connection flight sector, flew 62,600 passengers in November.
Other airlines that gained ground in November included LOT Polish Airlines, which flew 22,000 passengers, 200% more than last year; Lufthansa, which flew 52,000 passengers, 30% more than last year; Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., which carried 27,250 passengers, 36% more than in November 2016; and Transavia, which operates direct flights to France and the Netherlands, and posted 33% growth in passengers, compared with last year.
In the first 11 months of 2017, the five leading airlines in passenger traffic were El Al, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, easyJet, and Israir.
The countries to which the most passengers flew included Turkey, mainly as an intermediate stop to other destinations; the US; Germany; Italy; Russia (also as an intermediate stop in many cases); France; the UK; and Poland.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on December 10, 2017
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