Passenger traffic at Israel's Ben Gurion airport down 34 pct in 2024

JERUSALEM, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Passenger traffic at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport fell by 34 percent in 2024 compared to last year, according to a press release issued by the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) on Monday.

The IAA said that 13.8 million passengers onboard 84,100 international flights passed through the airport this year, down from 21 million passengers onboard 144,869 flights in 2023.

The sharp decline is attributed to the outbreak of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 7 last year, which led many foreign airlines to reduce or suspend their operations in Israel.

Only 20 foreign airlines remain in operation in Israel, continuing to fly to 50 destinations, the IAA added.

According to the statement, the drop in foreign flights to Israel caused an operating loss of 105 million shekels (28.74 million U.S. dollars) for the IAA in the first three quarters of this year.

The IAA's revenues in the first nine months fell by 35 percent to 2.22 billion shekels, it noted. ■