A million and a half travelers are expected to fly through Ben-Gurion International Airport on inbound and outbound flights over the course of the Passover holiday, figures released by the Israel Airports Authority show.
In April alone, a million travelers are expected to fly through Ben-Gurion Airport, an increase of 11% compared to the same period in 2018.
On Sunday this week, over 75,000 travelers landed at or took off from Ben-Gurion. Outbound traffic by Israelis peaked on Wednesday and Thursday, the two days prior to Passover eve, which falls on Friday. On Thursday alone, some 85,000 Israelis took off for foreign destinations.
Another 83,000 travelers – arriving and departing – are expected to pass through Ben-Gurion Airport this coming Sunday (April 21), and the following Sunday (April 28) is expected to break April records for passenger traffic, with over 93,000 travelers scheduled to fly through Tel Aviv.
Ben-Gurion Airport serves some 25 million travelers per year. Recent years have seen a steady uptick in the number of Israelis spending the Passover holiday abroad. Israel is one of the few countries in the world where it is cheaper to spend vacations outside the country rather than at local leisure destinations.
Adi, a resident of central Israel, testified to that. On Wednesday, he and his family – his wife, children, and his parents – took off for Budapest.
"We almost settled on a hotel in Eilat, and then we saw an ad for a vacation in Budapest – three nights, including seder, at a four-star hotel. We paid less than 15,000 shekels [$4,200], including the flight. In Eilat we would have had to pay 2,000 shekels [$557] more, not including travel expenses," Adi told Israel Hayom.
