Breaking Update
Airline Traffic Through Ben-Gurion Airport Still Down Considerably in January
Ben-Gurion Airport's January 2026 passenger traffic remains 13% below 2023 levels, as foreign airlines slowly resume flights to Israel.
Jerusalem, 26 February, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority reported that international passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport has not yet returned to the traffic volumes before October 7. Traffic volume during January 2026 is approximately 13% lower than traffic volume during January 2023, with the number of international passenger flights approximately 9% lower than the number of flights during January 2023.
The volume of passenger traffic on Israeli airlines during January was approximately 57% higher than the volume of passenger traffic on Israeli airlines in January 2023, while the volume of passenger traffic on foreign airlines was approximately 39% lower than their volume of passenger traffic in January 2023. El Al’s market share reached approximately 35% during January and is significantly higher than its market share during January 2023 (approximately 22%). Israir’s and Arkia’s market shares during January were 7.0% and 6.6% respectively, compared to 3.0% and 2.5% respectively during January 2023. Israeli airlines’ aggregate market share reached 49.1% during January compared to 27.3% in January 2023.
This was due to the fact that not all foreign airlines have not yet restored their services to Israel that were canceled due to the war.
