Delta to add four weekly flights from New York-Tel Aviv

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The additional flights are part of a rising trend in incoming tourism to Israel.

Delta Airlines, one of the world's largest airlines, is to add another four weekly flights to its New York-Tel Aviv route beginning June 2009, according to an announcement by the airline company to the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry added that flights to Israel were resumed by Delta Airlines in 2006, whose operations from Atlanta and New York are now being expanded as a result of high bookings and good forecasts for the coming months. With the additional flights, the number of weekly flights operated by the company will increase to 18, with an additional 4000 seats on the monthly seat capacity.

"There is great importance in Delta's decision as a vote of confidence in the Israeli tourism industry. The addition of thousands of extra seats every month will provide an answer to the growth in tourism and demand from North America that is also expected next year, despite the financial crisis," said Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila.
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This boost in flights illustrates the rise in tourism to Israel over the past year. From January-October, 2.6 million visitors arrived in the country, of which 2.2 million were tourists. This is an increase of 36% over the same period last year and 5% more than 2000. Incoming tourism to Israel is expected to reach nearly 3 million visitors, which would exceed the Tourism Ministry's forecast for 2.8 million.

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