Continued flying as usual: The airline that bypassed the chaos at Ben Gurion Airport
While thousands of passengers were stuck at Ben Gurion Airport and at destinations abroad on Thursday, Air Haifa continued to operate its flights from Haifa Airport as scheduled. Cyprus and Greece, the two most popular destinations for passengers from Israel at the moment, are also the main destinations of the company, which during the crisis flew about 2,200 passengers on 32 flights.
The chaos at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday brought with it mainly bad news, and apparently unsettled many passengers ahead of the coming weeks. This coming Thursday, more than 100,000 passengers are expected to pass through the international airport, and if the tune repeats itself, Ben Gurion Airport is expected to enter another tailspin. However, in the midst of the chaos, one company emerged that, surprisingly, could be relied upon - Air Haifa.
The company is effectively utilizing its great advantage: the detachment from Ben Gurion Airport and operations from Haifa Airport. Thus, while thousands of Israelis were stuck on Thursday in Cyprus, Greece, and at Ben Gurion Airport, Air Haifa's flights departed as usual and brought passengers to Israel and to nearby destinations abroad.
In total, the company operated about 32 flights that day and flew about 2,200 passengers. In fact, the airports in Cyprus and Greece were divided that day into two groups: passengers who needed to get to Ben Gurion Airport and were stuck, and passengers who needed to get to Haifa - and passed them by.
It should be noted that according to the Ben Gurion Airport load meter, Larnaca in Cyprus is currently the most popular destination at Ben Gurion Airport. Thus, for example, today about 20 flights departed from Ben Gurion Airport to Larnaca and about 22 flights arrived from it. The Ben Gurion Airport report for July shows that Cyprus is the second largest destination in terms of the number of passengers, with about 206,000 passengers. Air Haifa also offers flights to the most popular destination, Greece. In July, about 426,000 passengers arrived in Greece from Israel.
These days, Air Haifa continues to expand. The company, which operates flights to Eilat, Cyprus, Greece, and Bulgaria, launched a line to Thessaloniki at the beginning of the month and marked a record with 58,000 passengers in July. In addition, the Israel Airports Authority is currently building a new parking lot at the Port of Haifa, including 900 parking spaces, on an area of about 20 dunams north of the passenger terminal.
