Israel's Transportation Ministry has announced plans for a new bus line connecting Jerusalem's Central Bus Station to Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Lod.

At present, passengers are forced to travel from Jerusalem to Ben Gurion Airport El Al Junction. From there, passengers have to walk a short distance before reaching the stop where another bus takes them into the airport itself, this with their luggage in tow. Returning home by bus is the same hassle, but in the opposite direction.

Alternatively, passengers can order a shuttle cab which takes them from their home address in Jerusalem directly to the airport's terminals. While convenient and much cheaper - less than a third the price of a personal taxi - for those actually traveling, shuttles are prohibitively expensive for those arriving to meet friends or family at the airport.

The new line will leave from the shuttles' "station" just outside the terminals, and will begin running in January. However, the Transportation Ministry has not yet decided which company will run the line, how subsidized it will be, and how much passengers will pay.

Originally, the plan was to give the line to Egged, which runs most of Jerusalem's bus lines. However, because of the recent tensions between the Egged bus company and the Israeli government, the Ministry is considering giving the line to a company more dominant in the Lod-Tel Aviv area instead.