The end of August, just before the start of the school year and the major Jewish holidays, is the busiest time of year for passenger and airplane traffic at Ben Gurion Airport. The Israel Airports Authority believes that international passenger traffic will total 2.7 million in August, an all-tim record, 10% more than in August 2017. 2.4 million passengers passed through the airport in July, up 10.6% from July 2017.
It is believed that the upward trend in passenger traffic will continue in September with over 2.2 million passengers on 14,000 flights, 17% more than in September 2017. Thousands of Israelis travel to the town of Uman in Ukraine in September. The airlift to Ukraine will start on September 5 and continue until September 9. 30,000 Hassidim are expected to travel to Uman on 133 flights between these dates.
The preferred destinations for the rest of the passengers in September are Greece, Turkey (an interim destination for connecting flights), Italy, and Russia.
Passenger traffic will come to a halt on the eve of Yom Kippur, September 18, with the final landing being at 1:40 PM (by El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL)) and the last takeoff at 1:55 PM, after which Israel's airspace will be closed. The first landing after Yom Kippur will be at 9:30 PM on September 19 and the first takeoff will be at 11:30 PM the same day.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 28, 2018
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