By KOBY YESHAYAHOU / GLOBES
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) has benefited from the increase in incoming tourism and passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport, the national carrier's hub, based the company's quarterly revenue report released on Wednesday.El Al's net profit more than tripled to $42.5 million for the third quarter of 2010 from $12.3 million for the corresponding quarter of 2009. The airline posted a net profit of $40.8 million in January-September, compared with a net loss of $47.3 million in the corresponding period of last year. El Al's revenue rose 13 percent to $561.2 million for the third quarter from $496 million for the corresponding quarter of 2009.Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion Airport rose 5.7% to 3.8 million persons in the third quarter from 3.6 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year and cargo traffic rose 10.4% in the same period.El Al's share of international scheduled flights and charter flights from Israel fell to 34% in the third quarter from 34.7% in the corresponding quarter. Average plane occupancy rate fell to 83.8% in the third quarter from 85.1% in the corresponding quarter. "In addition to the operating and business results in the passenger segment, cargo operations showed strong improvement, with revenue up 34% during the quarter. At the same time, we continue developing growth engines in code-sharing, maintenance, commerce, and tourism," El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi said.
French man who attacked Jew sentenced to three years
