El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. has reported strong results in its financial report for the third quarter of 2015. Israel's flag carrier, earned US$93 million in the third quarter, up from US$10.1 million a year earlier.

Revenue grew 7.6% to US$647.3 million, although the carrier was hit in the 2014 quarter by the Gaza war.

The jump in quarterly profit was boosted by lower fuel costs and a rise in the number of passengers. The report noted that the number of tourists to Israel rose 36% in the third quarter from a year earlier.

Its performance was aided by a 12% fall in expenditure to $ 438 million – to which the decline in fuel prices contributed – which enabled the airline to double its gross profit. Fuel prices slided 33.2% to US$68.1 million.

El Al CEO David Maimon said, "Alongside the boost we received from lower fuel prices, the company also grew its commercial operations. Passenger traffic grew by 12.7% and plane occupancy was 86.3% in the third quarter compared with 82.1% in the corresponding quarter last year."

Its third-quarter figures enabled El Al to achieve a pre-tax profit of US$128 million for the first nine months of the year, turning around a previous US$18 million loss.