Summer 2008 sees all times record in Ben-Gurion Airport

Some 1.34 million travelers pass through Israeli airport in August, with 60,000 passengers on busiest day. Summer also deemed successful in terms of incoming tourism, with 22% rise
Ilana Fischer

More than 2.5 million travelers passed through Ben-Gurion Airport during the months of July and August on 15,274 flights, constituting an all time record.

August was the busiest month ever, with 1.34 million passengers. In total, 2,534,803 travelers passed through Ben-Gurion Airport during the summer.

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The record number of passengers was broken three times this summer. On July 31, 54,857 travelers were registered in the airport in one day. This record was broken on August 14 with 56,000 passengers, and once again on August 21 with 60,000 travelers on 345 planes.

Sunday, the last day of August, saw 55,000 passengers pass through the airport on 334 flights.

Kobi Mor, director-general of the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), said that "the recent summer, which broke one record after another in the number of passengers, proved once again that Ben-Gurion Airport is prepared and ready to provide the highest level of service in accordance with global standards and the increasing number of travelers.

"Our great preparedness and the reinforcement of manpower helped us deal with this busy period successfully, smoothly and without any mishaps," he said.

Some 870,000 travelers are expected to pass through Ben-Gurion Airport ahead of the High Holidays, a rise of about 10% compared to the same period in 2007.

And in Israel

This summer was also successful in terms of incoming tourism. More than 250,000 visitors arrived in Israel in July, a rise of 22% compared to the same month in 2007. Some 237,000 tourist entered the country in June, a rise of 35% compared to the same period last year.

Most tourists arrived in Israel from France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Poland or the United States.

The Israel Hotel Association also reported of a small rise in hotel occupancies this summer. Some 826,000 tourist stays in Israeli hotels were recorded in July, a rise of 12% compared to the previous year.

A drop of 1% was recorded in the number of hotel visits by Israelis, however, amounting to 1.4 million stays. The overall number of hotel stays in July totaled 2.2 million, a rise of 3% compared to the same month in 2007.

The highest number of tourist stays was recorded in Jerusalem, with 282,000 stays (a rise of 13% compared to July of 2007). Some 202,000 stays were registered in Tel Aviv.

The highest rise in tourist stays was recorded in the Dead Sea – a 32% increase compared to July of 2007. Some 26,000 stays were registered in Haifa (a rise of 18%).

As in the previous year, Israelis prefer to spend their vacation in Eilat. More than half of Israelis' visits to hotels, about 734,000 stays, were recorded in the southern resort city.

An increase in Israeli stays was registered in the Dead Sea, in the kibbutzim, in Haifa and in Netanya. A 1 drop % was recorded in Tiberias, Jerusalem saw a 19% decrease, and Tel Aviv and Herzliya each experienced a 13% drop in the number of Israelis' hotel stays.