The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) reported that Ben Gurion International Airport handled 1.3 million international passengers during May 2014, 13.8% more than in the corresponding month in 2013.

The IAA also noted that passenger traffic in the five month period January-May 2014 was up 15.6% over the corresponding period of last year.

The IAA attributes the increase in passenger traffic to the Open Skies agreement with the EU and the runways upgrade which enables the airport to handle more flights. An estimated 212,000 passengers were expected to use the facility via 1,700 flights last week because of last Wednesday's Shavu'ot holiday, up 30% from last year.

The five most popular destinations for the holiday are Turkey, Italy, Russia, the United States and Greece.