All the news about Israeli tourism

Airline revenue on routes to Israel declined by 30 percent in April compared to the same period last year.  This was caused by the large number of discounts offered by the airlines. Based on the data released shortly to be released, there was a 9 percent fall in passenger traffic during April.

Avner Lesh, assistant managing director of travel agents Daka 90 commented that Passover this year was characterized by last minute bookings, in contrast to previous years where reservations were made well in advance.  The large number of last minute deals resulted in a 30 percent fall in revenue for the airlines during April compared to Passover in 2008.

Airline revenues in April stood at $56 million compared to $84 million last April.  Lesh commented that this was because of the significantly lower prices for outgoing tourists this Passover compared to previous years.  He cited as examples flights to destinations such as Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Verona, Prague, Budapest, Greece and Cyprus costing only $299.

The good news for passengers is that because of the ongoing economic recession, the lower prices are expected to continue into the coming summer. Lesh added that he could not remember a year where flights were being sold to European destinations at such low prices.

Within the next few days the Israel Airports Authority will publish full details of passenger traffic for April.  It is expected that they will show a 9 percent fall compared to April 2008.