2.
Israel’s flag carrier airline; its name (Hebrew:
the Skies” or “Skyward”.
) means “To
Has expanded to serve about 45 destinations since its initial
flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948; operates
scheduled domestic and international services and cargo
flights to Europe, North America, Africa, and the Near and Far
from its hub at Ben Gurion International Airport.
Offers (in principle) only kosher in-flight meals; does not fly
passengers on the Jewish Sabbath or religious holidays.
Is regarded as one of the world’s safest airlines, in gratitude
to its strict security processes, both on the ground and on
board its aircraft.
While it has been targeted by hijackings and terrorist attacks,
only one El Al flight was hijacked successfully.
As the principle airline of Israel, it has played a significant role
in humanitarian rescue attempts, having airlifted Jews from
other nations to Israel, which set the world record for the
most passengers on a commercial aircraft (lone plane record
of 1,122 passengers) by Operation Solomon, during which
14,500 Jewish immigrants were transported via Ethiopia in
1991.
Operated an all-Boeing fleet of 38 aircraft, flew more than 4
million passengers, and employed a workforce of 6,056
worldwide in 2012.
The airline’s 2011 income increased to $2.4 million, which
amounted to losses of $49.4 million in comparison to a
turnover of $57 million in 2010.
3.
The headquarters of El Al are located on the grounds of
Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv District,
Israel, near Lod.
In 1999, William A. Orme of The New York Times
described the facility as “utilitarian”.
5.
El Al serves destinations on five continents with a welldeveloped European system that even takes in
significant cities in Russia, the Baltic region, and the CIS
member states.
It serves numerous gateway cities in North America,
expanding its service to cover Central and Southeast
Asia (Bangkok, Mumbai) and the Far East (Beijing, Hong
Kong).
It even services to Johannesburg in Africa.
It operated domestic flights to Eilat for a while; these
services were terminated in October 2013.
6.
El Al (as of November 2013) has codeshare agreements with these eight airlines:
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Air China (Star Alliance)
American Airlines (Oneworld)
Czech Airlines (SkyTeam)
Iberia Airlines (Oneworld)
S7 Airlines (Oneworld)
Swiss International Air Lines (Star Alliance)
Thai Airways International (Star Alliance)
Vietnam Airlines (SkyTeam)
7.
El Al’s historic, old-fashioned livery featured a turquoise/navy blue strip down the aircraft’s side, and a
turquoise tailfin with the Israeli flag at the top.
Its logo was shown above the front run of windows on every side of the plane in the turquoise/navy scheme.
The new livery shows a blue stripe with a solid silver border on the bottom that sweeps across the aircraft’s side
by the wing, vanishes over the top of the plane, and reemerges by the bottom of the tailfin.
El Al’s logo accompanies that design, even though it has slightly changed ever since.
El Al has an all Boeing-made fleet made up of these aircraft with a normal age of 11.1 years (11 December
2011):
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In June 2012, El Al announced a plan to reorganize its fleet with 15 to 20 new aircraft during the next ten years.
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El Al retired its last 757 on November 26, 2012 following 25 years of service.
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It was announced in May 2013 that the last two Boeing 767-200ER in fleet would be retired; the last 767-200ER was
retired on September 22, 2013.
14.
YouTube links:
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EL AL commercial: The Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oys-_dP8Eus
EL Al New Safety Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcKGCS4rSl8
:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGj-zVlDEEE
: