expected to use the new and improved rail link between the two cities. Since the inauguration of the new rail services in December 2014, the direct journey from Linz central station to Vienna International Airport takes a mere 1:47 hours without change of trains. In September 2016, Austrian Airlines cut down the Linz-Vienna route again to only one flight per day and direction, stating extremely poor passenger numbers. Most travelers between Linz and Vienna now use the aforementioned rail link, as nearly one Railjet per hour departs for Vienna on which Austrian Airlines sells AirRail tickets as well. Because of geopolitical crises and terrorist attacks in holiday destinations, the demand for package holiday has declined all over Europe. The blue danube airport noted a drop in the destinations of Egypt and Turkey. In cooperation with ARGE "Flieg from Linz", Ibiza and Burgas were therefore included in the summer program 2016 and Tenerife in the winter program. Due to an increasing demand, services to Greece and Egypt will be extended in 2018. Besides this, there will be direct flights to Rostock and Monastir again on a weekly basis starting from 2018. In the first six months of 2018 the airport recorded a significant increase in numbers and a positive effect on passenger development. More than 200.000 passengers used Linz Airport for their trips. Compared to the first half of 2017, traveler traffic increased by 16.8%, which makes 30,879 passengers in total. The holiday travel segment grew by 42.2%. The connections via Frankfurt raised as Lufthansa operates by larger aircraft. Palma de Mallorca has become accessible five times a week, twice by Eurowings and three times by Laudamotion. The airport was able to expand its offer towards the Baltic Sea, making it the only federal airport in Austria to offer this destination. Other newly popular destinations are Turkey, Egypt and Greece. Due to an entire airstrip lockdown of the Salzburg Airport from end of April until end of May 2019, the daily Salzburg-Istanbul flights from Turkish Airlines are going to be translocated to Linz. The operation of this field trial could result a regular flight connection between Linz and Istanbul. In summer 2019 the Bulgarian Air Charter will launch its premiere from Linz airport with destinations to Bulgaria and Greece. Due to new and future destinations, the number of seats in charter flights will be increased by 20%, from 80,000 to 95,000