Traffic slip
British Airways' passenger traffic on its London-Tel Aviv route has declined only marginally this year despite a plunge in tourists visiting Israel. A surge in business travel is said to have largely offset the drop. The airline said that in the first four months this year passenger traffic dipped 9 per cent, while traffic in April was even with the same month last year. Israel has reported that tourist numbers have fallen 45 per cent since September.
Delta dip
Delta Air Lines' load factor dropped 5.5 points last month to 70.2 per cent because of the Comair pilot strike and a drop in corporate travel. The third-largest US airline said traffic system-wide dropped 8.9 per cent while capacity fell 1.7 per cent from a year earlier. Domestic traffic fell 11.6 per cent while international traffic slipped 0.2 per cent. Domestic capacity fell 5 per cent while international capacity rose 9.9 per cent.
