Ben Gurion airport struggles with flow of travelers

In March, 1.2 million passengers passed through Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, after 1.1 million in January and February, as Israel’s tourism industry is rapidly recovering from the Covid pandemic. It is forecast that 1.5 million passengers will pass through the airport in April, with 70,000-75,000 per day during the Passover holiday.

The long lines seem to get longer every day. This is due to a number of reasons: lack of manpower, increasing demand in a very short period of time, reduction in the number of counters to create PCR testing facilities and low use of technology such as online check-in.

Ben Gurion Airport director Shmuel Zakai claims the Covid crisis has led to the current situation. “Passengers have to submit more documents as required by the destination country and this makes the procedures longer.”

He added: “The fact that passengers have to go to the registration desks is a problem that the airlines can solve. On this week’s Ryanair flights, 50% of passengers were queuing at the hand luggage counter. Before Covid, they had to queue. no waiting in line Ryanair, like other airlines, needs to take the pressure off and trust passengers and allow them to check in via the internet, not forcing them to come to the counters.

But airlines prefer to be careful because if a passenger lands in a country without the required entry documentation (the need to test for Covid, for example), the airline bears the responsibility of flying them home.

Zakai said: “99% of passengers check in advance the conditions of entry to the country they are flying to and whether they know that the country requires an antigen test before starting the flight. The airport has a W-track for passengers who or without luggage. For example, El Al checks the required documents there. But there are airlines that for cost reasons prefer the passengers to come to their counters. I spoke to the airlines this week and I begged them to manage the risk and renew the check-in via the Internet. In the end, the number of passengers who do not follow the instructions is meager. But to fish them out, tens of thousands have to queue. There are 6-7 flights a day to some destinations, and they send one passenger back It’s more complicated on the transatlantic flights, but there are still airlines that have gone back to the previous system and they know it’s worth the risk.”

Zakai said that if the US agrees to the airline’s demands to end the need for a Covid test before entering the country, it will ease the situation.

This will be far from a solution as Israel remains exceptional in conducting PCR testing at Ben Gurion airport for all people entering the country. This has resulted in 45 airline counters being converted into PCR test stations. For those leaving the country and needing a PCR test, part of Terminal 1 is dedicated to this.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 6, 2022.

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