Passenger traffic rose 4% over 2005.
Ben Gurion Airport handled 8.8 million passengers in 2006, 4% more than in 2005, the Israel Civil Aviation Authority reports. Forecasts made in early 2006 predicted a 30% increase in passenger traffic, but the hopes evaporated because of the second Lebanon war in the summer.
The Civil Aviation Authority says most of the growth in passenger traffic that nevertheless occurred was due to the increase in flights and added seat capacity by foreign airlines, including Air France and Austrian Airlines. Both airlines increased flights on their Tel Aviv routes from one a day to two a day.
The Civil Aviation Authority also reported that El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) carried 3.5 million passengers on 21,000 flights during 2006. Although El Al increased the number of its flights by 7% over 2005, the number of passengers carried fell by 1%. El Al carried 39.2% of all passengers to and from Israel in 2006.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 6, 2007
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