Unless you are very involved, interested in the aviation industry, or have traveled to or from Israel, you may not have heard of EL AL. Outside of Europe and the Middle East, it is possible to see the carrier’s aircraft at key hubs across Asia and North America. Its aesthetic livery features blue and silver ribbons and a swept-up Israeli flag on the tail. EL AL is known for its immense security precautions and impressive customer service from check-in to arrival, but how much do you know about Israel’s national airline?
5 First airline in Israel
The carrier’s history is traced back to the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization, as they understood the necessity of having an Israeli airline to fly needed supplies and Jewish immigrants during the turbulent years leading to the foundation of Israel in 1948. EL AL was officially founded in September 1948 with its inaugural flight from Geneva, Switzerland, to Tel Aviv using a Douglas C-54 Skymaster military transport aircraft to fly Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, back from a conference. A month later, in November 1948, the airline was incorporated as Israel’s flag carrier and purchased two unpressurized DC-4s from American Airlines.
Photo: Davidi Vardi / Shutterstock
EL AL’s first scheduled flights began in 1949, using these DC-4s aircraft operating between Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG), Rome–Ciampino International Airport (CIA), and Tel Aviv. Long-haul expansion followed suit in June 1950 with charter flights to North America and scheduled service to Johnessberg and Nairobi. Over seventy years later, EL AL has become a leading airline in the Middle East and flies to nearly 50 destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Still, the airline has codeshare agreements with carriers such as American Airlines, JetBlue, Qantas, and Etihad Airways, allowing customers to take advantage of that extensive network.
4 Operated the longest flight in the world
In 1961, EL AL introduced the Boeing 707 to connect Israel and the United States. The airline used the new Boeing 707s to operate nonstop flights between New York Idlewild Airport (now New York-JFK) and Tel Aviv. The 5,6777-mile flight took an average of 9 hours and 33 minutes and was the longest nonstop flight in the world at the time. Two years later, Russian carrier Aeroflot overtook EL AL with its 5,961-mile flight between Havana, Cuba, and Moscow, with an average flight time of 16 hours and 25 minutes.
After utilizing the 707s, EL AL acquired its first Boeing 747 in 1971, which became the backbone of the carrier’s fleet, peaking at ten examples of the 747-200 between 1995 and 1997. EL AL’s current all-Boeing fleet comprises 787s, 777-200s, and 737s. EL AL started its long-haul fleet renewal in 2015 when it ordered 16 examples of the 787 Dreamliner, which were made up of both the smaller dash eight variant and the larger dash nine variant.
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After posting its second-highest profit since privatization in 2003, EL AL has hinted at expanding its network further. It was reported that EL AL is looking to expand its network as far as Manila in the Philippines and Melbourne, Australia. These would be EL AL’s first nonstop flights to the respective nations, and the route to Melbourne would become the longest in its network at 8,538 miles (it would enter the top 15 longest commercial routes). EL AL’s longest route at present is 7,574 miles, connecting Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.
3 Repartition flights, including a record breaker
Over its 70-year history, EL AL has operated many special missions for the state of Israel and the Jewish people. The first of these missions brought Jews to Israel, including Operation Magic Carpet, which brought Yemenite Jews to Israel between 1949 and 1950, and Operation Ali Baba in 1951, which brought Jews fleeing Iraq to Israel. Following the falling of the Iron Curtain, EL AL airlifted hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews in Operation Exodus in 1990. Then, during Operation Solomon, EL AL transported thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In fact, during the last flight of Operation Soloman, an EL AL 747-200 set the world record for the most number of passengers transported on an aircraft, with 1,087 between Addis Ababa and Israel.
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During times of uncertainty, EL AL became a necessary lifeline for Israel. For example, during the Six Day War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the Gulf War in 1990, EL AL was the only airline to operate to and from Israel.
2 No flights on the Jewish Sabbath
During the 1970s, EL AL scheduled flights from airports outside of Israel that departed on the Jewish Sabbath (day of rest), as all airports in Israel are closed every Saturday. Although these flights would depart during the Sabbath, they landed in Israel after it had finished at sundown. However, this caused an uproar in the Israeli Knesset, and it contradicted an agreement the airline signed where EL AL would not fly on the Sabbath, leading the carrier to refrain from operating on the Sabbath altogether.
Photo: David Vardi / Shutterstock
EL AL has continued to not operate scheduled passenger flights on the Sabbath (from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown) or on major Jewish holidays. The carrier only operates 306 days a year, whereas other airlines typically operate 365 days a year. This emphasizes operational efficiency for the airline as it works at a comparative disadvantage in the region, with Israel’s two other airlines, Arkia Airlines and Israir Airlines, both flying on the Sabbath.
1 Most secure airline
EL AL is often synonymous with security, as its impressive measures set the airline apart. After a terrorist attack on two aircraft in 1968, the airline instituted a policy of having plainclothes armed guards aboard each flight. Since then, every EL AL flight has had security guards or ‘air marshals’ protecting the crew, aircraft, and passengers from a possible attack. In addition to the airline’s hub at Ben Gurion Airport being dubbed the safest airport in the world, both at home and abroad, pre- and post-flight security checks, as well as baggage inspections, are carried out by specially trained personnel using modern detection equipment.
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EL AL aircraft have classified Israeli security hardware on the outside, including an anti-missile system. When installed in 2004, EL AL became the first airline to have such a system on a commercial airliner. First developed for the Israeli Air Force’s Flight Guard, the technology includes an advanced radar system that detects incoming missiles and deflects and confuses middles by ejecting flares. Currently, aircraft are equipped with a Doppler radar system that creates velocity data concerning objects at a distance. If an EL AL aircraft comes under attack, the system will respond within seconds by firing invisible flares to divert any heat-seeking missiles. The Doppler radar system comprises four antennas: one at the front, one at the back, and two on the sides. The intentional location of the antennas provides 360-degree coverage around each aircraft.
In total, it is understood that EL AL spends more than two times as much money as other airlines to protect its aircraft and passengers as a result of maintaining the most intensive and respected airline security system.
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