A rise of approximately 28.6 percent in international passenger traffic through Ben Gurion airport was registered in September 2007. The growth in the number of passengers in September is over and above the rise of 13.8 percent in international passenger traffic since the beginning of the year.

Of the 951,330 passengers who entered and left the country in September, incoming passengers accounted for about 456,806 and outgoing passengers for about 494,524. Aircraft traffic totaled 6,895 flights, constituting a rise of 18.4 percent compared with the same period last year, and surpassing the all-time seasonal high ever reached at Ben Gurion airport.

On domestic flights, some 29,287 passengers passed through Ben Gurion airport in September, a decline of 9.7 percent compared with the same period last year. Overall, international and domestic flights had 980,617 passengers going through Ben Gurion airport on 7,615 flights. Since the beginning of the year, 7,766,318 passengers have passed through Ben Gurion airport on international flights, constituting a 13.8 percent growth compared with 2006.

In October, the Israel Airports Authority expects to see a moderate increase of about 5 percent in passenger traffic compared with the October 2006 traffic of 872,470 passengers. Aircraft traffic is expected to increase by about 3% relative to the previous year.