Trans-Atlantic traffic carried by El Al Israel Airlines during the first six months of 1961 rose from 37 percent over the same period in 1960, the airline announced here today. This compares with an overall increase in trans-Atlantic air passengers of 10 percent for the same period. This increase in passengers, combined with a 34.5 percent rise in seating capacity, brought El Al’s payload for the first half of 1961 to 59.1 percent, the highest load factor for trans-Atlantic flights of any airline.
El Al carried a total of 17,074 passengers in and out of New York’s International Airport during the period reported, compared with 12,453 trans-Atlantic passengers for the first six months of 1960. The introduction of Boeing 707 jet flights on El Al routes and the expansion of the trans-Atlantic schedule to eight round trip flights per week brought the airline’s seating capacity to 29,000, a 34.5 percent increase over the 21,510 seats available during the first half of last year. Total seating capacity for all trans-Atlantic airlines rose 48.5 percent in that time, from 945,000 to 1.4 million places.
In the past fiscal year, ending March 31, 1961, El Al flew 31,920 passengers across the Atlantic. By the end of this year, El Al estimates it will have carried 50,000 in trans-Atlantic flights. Next year the figure is expected to reach 60,000.
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