Some 300 new immigrants from France arrive on a special flight organized by the Jewish Agency, at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport on July 23, 2018. Photo: Miriam Alster/Flash90.

CTech – Approximately 405,000 tourist entries into Israel were recorded in September, 44 percent more than in September 2018 and 46 percent more than September 2017, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. Between January and September 2019, nearly 3.3 million tourist entries were recorded, compared to 2.9 million in the same period last year, an increase of 13 percent.

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport saw its busiest month ever in August, with 2.8 million passengers buzzing through it, the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) announced last month. In September, approximately 2.3 million passengers traveled through the airport, while October will see an estimated 2.28 million travelers. The most popular destinations for flights leaving Israel’s main airport are Turkey, Greece, the US, Italy, and Russia, the IAA said.

The airlines that flew the most passengers last month to and from Israel were Israel’s national carrier El Al, which flew 541,000 passengers; low-cost airline WizzAir, which flew 121,000 passengers; and Turkish Airlines, with 107,000 passengers to and from Ben Gurion Airport.