Business boomed for Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport in 2016, with 17,387,971 passengers passing through it on international flights last year -- an increase of 11%, or 1.6 million passengers, from 2015. At the same time, Eilat's Ovda Airport reported a 97.8% increase in passengers in 2016, after the airport was exempted from landing fees while construction continues on the new Ramon Airport, scheduled to open in 2017. According to the Israel Airports Authority, 128,595 passengers passed through Ovda Airport in 2016, compared with 65,006 in 2015. Since Israel signed the Open Skies agreement with the European Union in 2012, which has brought more flights to and from European countries at reduced prices, traffic at Ben-Gurion Airport has increased by around 50%. Passengers to and from six countries have led the growth at Ben-Gurion: Turkey with 1.6 million passengers on mostly connecting flights; the United States with 1.45 million passengers; Germany with 1.23 million passengers; Italy with 1.5 million passengers; and Russia and France, each with 1 million passengers. Five airlines created around 50% of all traffic at Ben-Gurion Airport: El Al, Israel's leading air carrier, brought 5.5 million passengers through the airport; Turkish Airlines came in second with 932,000 passengers; the British low-cost carrier EasyJet was next with 719,000 passengers; Russia's Aeroflot brought 704,000 passengers; Israel's Arkia brought 650,000, and Israir brought 548,000 passengers. "In the fifth year of the Open Skies policy with the European Union, the skies should open completely," Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said. "Despite all the predictions, the Israeli citizen has benefited, as have the Israeli airlines." Katz said Israeli airlines have increased their flights to a number of European destinations. He said the deal transformed Israel into an integral part of the European Union in aviation and made flights more affordable. In addition, it opened many European airports up to Israel without restrictions. Ben-Gurion Airport hosts over 100 airlines that fly to 135 destinations, which Katz said is a unique situation for an airport of that size. However, he noted that the phenomenal increase in passengers passing through the airport requires changes to the airport's infrastructure as well as further investment. Ben-Gurion Airport has two operational terminals. Terminal 3 is the main terminal for international flights, while Terminal 1 is used mainly for domestic flights -- although each day about 160 international flights currently pass through Terminal 1. These flights comprise 13% of all the traffic at Ben-Gurion Airport. Work is currently underway to allow Terminal 1 to take on more international flights to allow the airport to better cope with the recent increase in passengers. The terminal is expected to become fully operational by the summer of 2017. Ben-Gurion Airport Director Shmuel Zakai said, "The market share that has really grown this year is connecting flights at Ben-Gurion Airport. The is a profound change in the activity at Ben-Gurion Airport that has become attractive for airlines that are matching their networks to the flight schedule at Ben-Gurion Airport. Companies like Turkish [Airlines], Pegasus and Aeroflot lead today's market of connecting flights from Ben-Gurion Airport to Europe and naturally, the countries that have led the growth of 1.6 million passengers this year were Ukraine, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Cyprus. "Most of these are, as I said, connections to Europe. With an eye on the years ahead, it is clear that Ben-Gurion's potential for growth lies in its ability to attract connections from airlines in the East through a business model that will allow the country aviation and employment growth. We are committed to supporting the ability of airlines to fly from here. The demand already exists, and we are committed to allowing them, with the opening of [the new terminal at] Ben-Gurion so critical to the country." Internal surveys from the Israel Airports Authority show that 36% of passengers check in from home and 9% of passengers check in at the airport's various interactive kiosks. An increasing number of passengers flying with hand luggage alone take advantage of the airport's fast track priority lane.
