El Al#Security

File:ChaimWeizmann plane.jpg disembarks from the El Al aeroplane (September 1948)]]

File:El Al Connie.jpg (1951)]]

In September 1948, Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, attended a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Weizmann was scheduled to fly back to Israel in an Israeli government aircraft, but due to an embargo imposed on Israel at the time, this was not possible. An Israeli C-54 military transport aircraft was instead converted into a civilian plane to transport Weizmann home. The aircraft was painted with the logo of the "El Al/Israel National Aviation Company" and fitted with extra fuel tanks to enable a non-stop flight from Geneva to Israel. It departed from Ekron Air Base on 28 September and returned to Israel the next day. After the flight, the aircraft was repainted and returned to military use.{{cite web | url=http://www.answers.com/topic/el-al-israel-airlines-ltd | title=El Al Company History | access-date=2007-05-27 | publisher=Answers.com Premium Partner}}

The Airline was incorporated and became Israel's national flag carrier on 15 November 1948, although it used leased aircraft until February 1949, when two unpressurized DC-4s were purchased from American Airlines. The acquisition was funded by the government of Israel, the Jewish Agency, and other Jewish organizations. The first plane arrived at Lod Airport (later renamed Ben Gurion) on 3 April 1949. Aryeh Pincus, a lawyer from South Africa, was elected head of the company. The first international flight, from Tel Aviv to Paris, with refueling in Rome, took place on 31 July 1949.{{cite news | url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13400/edition_id/259/format/html/displaystory.html | title=El Al flies to rescue throughout the world | access-date=2007-05-07 | newspaper=Jewish Bulletin |last=Kanon |first=Sharon |date=April 7, 2000}} By the end of 1949, the airline had flown passengers to London and Johannesburg. A state-run domestic airline, Israel Inland Airlines, was founded in 1949 in which El Al had a 50% stake.{{when|date=June 2012}}

From its earliest days, the operation of the airline in keeping with Jewish tradition has been a source of friction; when the Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion was forming his first coalition, the religious parties would not join unless Ben-Gurion promised that El Al would serve only kosher food on its flights and would not fly on the Jewish Sabbath.{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm | title=El-Al, Israel's Airline | access-date=2007-05-27 | publisher=Gates of Jewish Heritage |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010222124207/http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm |archive-date = 2001-02-22}} El Al owes its name to David Remez, the first Minister of Transport, who based the name on a Biblical verse ({{Bibleverse|Hosea|11:7|HE}})."They call el al (upwards)."{{cite web | url=https://www.elal.com/en/About-ELAL/About-ELAL/History/Pages/Decade-40.aspx| title=EL AL Israel Airlines' History/The 1940s | access-date=2020-08-11 | publisher=www.elal.com Official website of El Al }}

File:Curtiss C-46D 4X-ALF El AL LHR 05.09.54 edited-3.jpg

A regular service to London was inaugurated in the middle of 1950. Later that year, El Al acquired Universal Airways, which was owned by South African Zionists.

El Al's cargo service was inaugurated in 1950 and initially relied on military surplus Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft. The same aircraft type was used also for passengers transportation in certain routes.{{cite web |title=EL AL Fleet – Historic – Curtiss C-46 Aircraft |url=https://www.israelairlinemuseum.org/el-al-fleet/el-al-fleet-historic/el-al-fleet-historic-curtiss-c-46-aircraft/ |website=Israeli Airline Museum |date=30 July 2019 |access-date=30 May 2024}} The same year the airline initiated charter services to the United States, followed by scheduled flights soon after.

From 1950 to 1951, El Al expanded its activities in Europe and added new destinations such as Vienna and Istanbul, Athens and Nicosia. On 31 July 1950, the company celebrated the first anniversary of its regular flight program.

File:Immigrants 1951.jpg (1951)]]

File:Bristol 175 312 4X-AGB El Al FAR 08.09.57 edited-2.jpg of El Al at Farnborough Airport in 1957 just before delivery to the airline]]

The airline was involved in several covert operations: In the early 1950s, El Al airlifted over 160,000 immigrants to Israel from Iran, Iraq and Yemen as part of Operation Magic Carpet and Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/AboutElAl/ | title=History of El Al | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=El Al}} In 1960, Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was captured and flown from Argentina to Israel on an El Al aircraft.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874118-2,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913202901/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874118-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 13, 2012 | title=The Beast in Chains | magazine=Time | date=June 6, 1960| access-date=2007-06-20}}

In 1955, after using Lockheed Constellations for several years, the airline purchased two Bristol Britannia aircraft. El Al was the second airline in the world to fly this plane, after the British Overseas Airways Corporation. In 1958, El Al ran a newspaper advertisement in the United States featuring a picture of a "shrunken" Atlantic Ocean ("Starting Dec. 23, the Atlantic Ocean will be 20% smaller") to promote its non-stop transatlantic flights.{{cite magazine| url=https://time.com/archive/6870668/advertising-admans-adman/ | title=Adman's Adman | access-date=2007-05-28 | magazine=Time | date=March 31, 1958}} This was a bold step: the airline industry had never used images of the ocean in its advertising because of the widespread public fear of airline crashes. The advertisement, which ran only once, proved effective. Within a year, El Al's sales tripled.{{cite web | url=http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/weirtz/doyle.htm | title=Doyle Dane Bernbach | access-date=2007-05-28}}

File:1951 British mechanics residence permit for Israel - El Al worker.jpg

File:1951 El Al pilot's early Israeli passport.jpg

File:Boeing 720-058B 4X-ABB El Al LHR 30.08.64 edited-2.jpg being serviced at London Heathrow Airport in 1964]]

Despite the purchase of its Britannia and the inauguration of non-stop transatlantic flights, the airline remained unprofitable.{{explain|reason=we didn't know it was unprofitable before|date=May 2016}} When Efraim Ben-Arzi took over the company in the late 1950s, the Britannias were replaced in the next decade by the Boeing 707 and Boeing 720 jet airliners.

File:OrlyAirport1965-Boeing707-EL-AL.jpg at Orly Airport, Paris (1965)]]

The first year that El Al turned a profit was 1960. That year, more than 50 percent of the passengers flying into Israel arrived on El Al flights. On 15 June 1961, the airline set a world record for the longest non-stop commercial flight: an El Al Boeing 707 flew from New York to Tel Aviv, covering {{convert|5760|mi|km|0}} in 9 hours and 33 minutes. By this time, El Al was carrying 56,000 passengers a year—on a par with Qantas and ahead of established airlines like Loftleiðir. In 1961, El Al ranked 35th in the world in accumulated passenger distance.{{cite web | url=http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/ElAl/Tran25.htm | title=El Al, the Israeli Airline | access-date=2007-05-28 | publisher=US Centennial of Flight}} El Al's success continued into the late 1960s. In 1968, regular flights to Bucharest were inaugurated, and cargo flights began to Europe and the United States. The airline also established a catering subsidiary, Teshet Tourism, and Aviation Services Ltd. All these ventures brought in a profit of $2 million that year.

{{see also|El Al Flight 426 hijacking}}

In 1968, El Al experienced the first of many acts of terrorism that have been perpetrated against the airline. On 23 July, the only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft took place, when a Boeing 707 carrying 10 crew and 38 passengers were taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The aircraft, El Al Flight 426, which was en route from Rome to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Algiers by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers lasted for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, were eventually freed.{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942267-2,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041701/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942267-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 30, 2007 | title=Drama of the Desert: The Week of the Hostages | date=September 21, 1970|access-date=2007-05-07 | magazine=Time}} On 26 December of the same year, two PFLP members attacked an El Al aircraft at Athens International Airport, killing an Israeli mechanic. The Israeli Defense Forces responded to the incident on 29 December, with a night-time raid on Lebanon's Beirut Airport, destroying 14 planes on the ground belonging to Middle East Airlines, Trans Mediterranean Airways and Lebanese International Airways.{{cite web

|url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/operators/5804 |title=Lebanese International Airways |access-date=2010-02-08 |publisher=Aviation Safety Network }} The military action was responsible for the demise of the LIA, which had most of its fleet destroyed.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

On 18 February 1969, Palestinians attacked an El Al plane at Zurich Airport, killing the copilot and injuring the pilot. One Palestinian attacker was killed and others were convicted but later released. Between September and December of that year, bomb and grenade attacks occurred at El Al offices in Athens, West Berlin, and Brussels.{{cite book |last=Bard |first=Mitchell Geoffrey |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict |url=https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu00mitc_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Alpha Books |year=2003 |isbn=9780028644103 }}{{page needed|date=September 2024}} This wave of violence culminated in the failed hijacking of an El Al 707 by Patrick Arguello and Leila Khaled on 6 September 1970, as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=15456 |title=The Day a New Terrorism Was Born |date=February 24, 2006 |last=Tugend |first=Tom |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Jewish Journal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321110141/http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=15456 |archive-date=March 21, 2006 }}

{{Rail freight

|float=right

|title=Revenue passenger-kilometers, scheduled flights only, in millions

|1950|50

|1955|138

|1960|413

|1965|1331

|1969|2070

|1971|3027

|1980|4590

|1985|6507

|1995|11287

|2000|14125

|source=ICAO Digest of Statistics for 1950–55, IATA World Air Transport Statistics 1960–2000

}}

File:El Al 707 at Zurich 1982.jpg landing at Zurich Airport, Switzerland (1982)|left]]

File:El Al Boeing 767-200 4X-EAB LHR 1985-5-17.png on short final to London Heathrow Airport in 1985]]

El Al acquired its first Boeing 747 jet in 1971. Many{{who|reason=who are those many?|date=May 2016}} felt it was a risky purchase given the high cost of the plane and fear of attacks, but El Al operations flourished after the purchase. Another Boeing 747 was delivered in 1973 and was used to start non-stop service from Tel Aviv to New York (El Al – Boeing 707s had flown eastward nonstop since around 1961).

El Al passengers and passengers from other airlines were attacked at Lod Airport in 1972, it was known as the Lod Airport massacre.

In the mid 1970s, El Al began to schedule flights from airports outside of Israel that departed on the Jewish shabbat and landed in Israel after it had finished. However, the religious parties in the government were outraged by this change believing that it was a violation of Jewish law and contrary to the agreement signed in the early days of the state, in which El Al promised to refrain from flying on the Sabbath. In 1982, the newly re-elected prime minister Menachem Begin, brought before the Knesset a vote to ban Sabbath flights once again (it passed by a vote of 58 to 54).{{cite book |title=The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership |last=Avner |first=Yehuda |author-link=Yehuda Avner |year=2010 |publisher=The Toby Press |isbn=978-1-59264-278-6 |page=599}} Outraged, the secular community threatened to boycott the airline. In August 1982, El Al workers blocked Orthodox and Hasidic Jews from entering the airport.

In 1977, El Al established a charter subsidiary, El Al Charter Services Ltd., later renamed Sun D'Or International Airlines Ltd. Two years earlier, the airline had suffered its first losses since the late 1950s, largely a product of the global recession. The management changed three times towards the end of the 1970s until Itzhak Shander was named president.{{clarify|reason=until? It changes again in 1982. This could be explained better|date=May 2016}} As the political situation in Iran deteriorated, El Al began to airlift Jews to Israel. All the airline's infrastructure in Iran was eventually destroyed.

El Al flights to Cairo were inaugurated in April 1980, following the Egypt–Israel peace treaty. In late 1982, after a long period of labor disputes and strikes, El Al operations were suspended. The government appointed Amram Blum to run the company, which lost $123.3 million in the fiscal year ending April 1983.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1982/12/06/archive/el-al-officially-put-into-liquidation|title = El al Officially Put into Liquidation|date = 6 December 1982}}{{clarify|reason=appointed before or after the loss?|date=May 2016}} The airline also sold its stake in Arkia at this time.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Operations resumed in January 1983 under receivership. The government purchased two new Boeing 737 aircraft and announced plans to acquire four Boeing 767 jets at the cost of $200 million. Within four years, El Al was profitable again. It broke another record since then surpassed, in May 1988 with a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, a journey of {{convert|7000|nmi|km|-2}} in 13 hours and 41 minutes.{{clarify|reason=what was the record? longest flight? quickest flight?|date=May 2016}}

Flights to Poland and Yugoslavia were started in 1989.

In January 1990, North American Airlines began providing feeder services to El Al's US destinations. El Al held a 24.9 percent stake in the airline until selling it back to Dan McKinnon in July 2003. By this time, El Al was operating a fleet of 20 aircraft, including nine Boeing 747s, and had begun replacing its aging Boeing 707s with the Boeing 757. Early that year, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, El Al inaugurated regular flights to Moscow. No airlifts from the former Soviet Union were possible at the time but permission was granted in 1991. Charter flights commenced in August 1991, with immigrants also occupying all available seats on El Al's scheduled routes. In cooperation with Aeroflot, El Al flew more than 400,000 Jewish immigrants to Israel within a three-year period.

File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Ethiopian immigrants coming off a Boeing jet.jpg from Ethiopia during Operation Solomon in 1991.]]

On 24 May 1991, an El Al Boeing 747 cargo plane airlifted a record-breaking 1,088 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa to Israel in the framework of Operation Solomon. Two babies were born during the flight. The plane carried twice as many passengers as it was designed for.{{cite web|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110426/records/records1.html |title=Aviation World Records |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Think Quest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228010738/http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110426/records/records1.html |archive-date=2007-02-28 }} In less than 36 hours, 14,500 Ethiopian Jews were flown to Israel.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/26/world/ethiopian-jews-and-israelis-exult-as-airlift-is-completed.html?pagewanted=all |title=Ethiopian Jews and Israelis Exult as Airlift Is Completed |work=The New York Times |last=Brinkley |first=Joel |date= May 26, 1991}} On 27 April 1994, El Al received its first Boeing 747-400.{{cite news | title=El Al flies olim on first direct charter | work=The Jerusalem Post | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99706558.html?dids=99706558:99706558&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+28%2C+1991&author=HERB+KEINON&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=14&desc=EL+AL+FLIES+OLIM+ON+FIRST+DIRECT+CHARTER | date=November 28, 1991 | access-date=2007-05-31 | first=Herb | last=Keinin | archive-date=2007-10-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001044827/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99706558.html?dids=99706558:99706558&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+28,+1991&author=HERB+KEINON&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=14&desc=EL+AL+FLIES+OLIM+ON+FIRST+DIRECT+CHARTER | url-status=dead }}

El Al flights were inaugurated to the Far East{{when|date=May 2016}} and, in 1995, El Al signed its first codesharing agreement with American Airlines. In February 1995, the receivership under which the airline had technically been operating since 1982 came to an end.{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/3508/edition_id/62/format/html/displaystory.html | title=El Al Airlines posts $15 million profits | access-date=2007-05-07| date=1996-04-26 | publisher=Jewish Bulletin Online}} In June 1996, El Al recorded its first flight from Israel to Amman, Jordan.

In 1996, El Al recorded US$83.1 million in losses, due to the resumption of terrorist activities and the government's open skies policy. To keep its planes flying during this period, El Al introduced flights "to nowhere": passengers were offered various kinds of in-flight entertainment as the plane circled the Mediterranean. One-day shopping trips to London and visits to religious sites in eastern Europe were also promoted. In 1997, El Al opened a separate cargo division.{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/ELALCargo/ProfileCargo.htm | title=El Al Cargo Profile | access-date=2012-10-03 | publisher=El Al}}{{clarify|reason=it already had one, didn't it?|date=May 2016}}

El Al's first Boeing 777 embarked on its maiden flight in March 2000. Later that year the controversy over flights on Shabbat erupted again, when the airline announced that it was losing US$55 million a year by grounding its planes on Saturdays. After privatization of the company began in June 2003, the policy regarding Shabbat flights was expected to change.

The first phase of the long-delayed privatization of the company commenced in June 2003 and by Israel's Government Companies Authority, headed by Eyal Gabbai. 15 percent of El Al's shares were listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. By June 2004, 50% of the company had been sold to the public. By January 2005, a controlling share of the company had been transferred to Knafaim-Arkia Holdings Ltd. As of October 2014, El Al's major shareholders were Knafaim Holdings (36%), Ginsburg Group (10%) and Delek Group (10%).{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.com/en/About-ELAL/About-ELAL/Investor-Relations/Pages/Shareholders.aspx| title=Shareholders|access-date=2015-02-17 | publisher=El Al}}

In August 2010, El Al and JetBlue signed an agreement to provide connecting through tickets between Israel and 61 destinations in the United States from October 2010, via John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Business/BusinessNews/Article.aspx?id=184648|title=El Al signs agreement with American Airlines|first=Ron|last=Friedman|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=13 August 2010|access-date=12 January 2012}}

In 2015, El Al introduced a requirement that female flight attendants wear high heels until passengers had been seated.{{cite web |url=http://globalnews.ca/news/2063591/i-dont-think-the-girls-thought-they-could-question-it-high-heels-policy-study-author/|title='I don't think the girls thought they could question it': high heels policy study author |last=Tucker |first=Erika |website=Global News |access-date=16 May 2016}} The airline's workers' union stated that the requirement would endanger the health and safety of the flight attendants and instructed its members to ignore the rule. Later that year, the requirement was removed.{{cite web |author=Yedidyah |first=Ben Or |date=10 September 2015 |title=El Al Flight Attendants Say Goodbye to High Heels |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200542 |access-date=2019-06-06 |publisher=Israel National News}}

In August 2017, El Al made their inaugural flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Their first variant of the plane was the 787-9, but in late 2019, they took delivery of the 787-8. The inaugural service was from Tel Aviv to London and Paris, with the transatlantic inaugural flight from Tel Aviv to Newark. El Al introduced a Premium Economy to this aircraft, in a 2-3-2 configuration. They also launched an upgraded Business Class with “pods” in a 1-2-1 configuration. This was upgraded from the original 2-3-2 configuration of their Business Class on the 777-200. Their Economy Class now also featured large personal touch screen entertainment and WiFi. In Business Class, the seats go to a 90° flat bed, have personal service, large touchscreen personal entertainment screens, and storage.

In April 2018, the Israel Postal Company issued a stamp with different El Al planes commemorating the 70th anniversary of the airline.Stamp, 11,60 Sh: {{cite web | url=https://www.israelpost.co.il/PostBoolaee.nsf/HanpakotViewEng/A3CA88FE276AB08CC225825B0043B623?opendocument&L=EN| title= 70 Years of Civil Aviation in Israel| access-date=2020-08-14}}

In July 2019, El Al retired its sole freight aircraft, a Boeing 747-400F, ending its dedicated cargo flights. The airline plans to use charter services by other airlines for this purpose from now on.{{cite web|url=https://cargofacts.com/el-al-ceases-747-freighter-ops-looks-to-airbridge-and-asl-for-charters-video/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707081600/https://cargofacts.com/el-al-ceases-747-freighter-ops-looks-to-airbridge-and-asl-for-charters-video/|archive-date=2019-07-07|website=cargofacts.com |title=El Al ceases 747 freighter ops, looks to AirBridge and ASL for charters|date=3 July 2019}}

In March 2020, El Al suspended operations due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Israeli government had announced that all foreign and Israeli passport holders would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival into the country. El Al also converted some of their Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplanes to serve as cargo flights to transport medical goods from China to Europe through Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. El Al also offered some passenger flights to get stranded Israeli citizens home. These flights went from Tel Aviv to Miami, New York, London, Paris, and more. They also offered two services to Australia during the pandemic. This was the first ever nonstop flight from Israel to Australia. El Al offered one flight from Tel Aviv to Perth and Tel Aviv to Melbourne.

On 1 July 2020, after returning substantial amounts of leased aircraft (and canceling current leases) the airline canceled all flights and suspended operations indefinitely.{{cite web|url=https://airlinegeeks.com/2020/07/01/el-al-suspends-operations-indefinitely/ |title=El Al suspends Operations Indefinitely|date=2 July 2020|publisher=Airline Geeks}} On 6 July, the company announced it had worked out a bailout deal with the government to make up the hundreds of millions of dollars it had lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel and abroad. The proposed deal would net the airline $250 million in government loans (with a guarantee for 75 percent of the loan in case of defaults) and an additional $150 million from its own sale of company shares which, if not sold, would be purchased by the government.{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=6 July 2020|title=Israeli airline El Al reaches bailout deal with government|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/rkZZzx111D|access-date=7 July 2020|newspaper=Ynetnews}} The deal was approved by a Knesset committee. On 17 September, it was announced that Kanfei Nesharim, a company owned by 27-year-old Eli Rozenberg (son of US [https://centershealthcare.com/ Centers Health Care] nursing home chain founder Kenny Rozenberg), had bought a controlling 42.85% stake{{Cite web|date=17 September 2020|title=El Al's new owner: Eli Rozenberg, a 27-year-old yeshiva student from New York|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/el-als-new-owner-eli-rozenberg-a-27-year-old-yeshiva-student-from-new-york/|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Times of Israel|language=en-US}} in the airline with a $107 million offer. Under the prior negotiated bailout deal, the Israeli government, which had committed to buying any unwanted shares as part of a rescue package, bought $34 million worth of shares, for a stake that equals roughly 15% of the company. The holdings of El Al's owners before the bailout, Knafaim Holdings, fell to 15.2% from 38%.{{Cite news|last=Scheer|first=Steven|date=2020-09-17|title=Control of Israel's El Al Airlines bought by 27-year-old student|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-el-al-arlns-issue-idUSKBN26827C|access-date=2020-09-17}} The new management will seek to emphasize "punctuality" and work to upgrade food services across all classes.

On 17 April 2022, El Al started its first direct flight between the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv and Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Flight 5193 is operated by El Al subsidiary Sun d’Or.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-17 |title=Direct flights start between Tel Aviv and Sharm el-Sheikh |url=https://arab.news/vz3c7 |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=Arab News |language=en}}

In October 2023, following the need for the urgent return of reserve soldiers due to the start of the Gaza war, El Al gained halachic approval from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to break a 40-year policy of not flying on Shabbat, with the last time it flew on a Sabbath being in 1982 during the First Lebanon War.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=El Al operates Saturday flights for first time since First Lebanon War |url=https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/energy-and-infrastructure/article-768799 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hajdenberg |first=Jackie |date=2023-10-17 |title=Israeli rabbis are issuing guidance about how to adjust Jewish law during wartime |url=https://www.jta.org/2023/10/17/israel/israeli-rabbis-are-issuing-guidance-about-how-to-adjust-jewish-law-during-wartime |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}} They also flew on the Sabbath following the attacks on Israeli football supporters in November 2024.{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-828412 | title=EL AL funds rescue flights for Israelis from violent Amsterdam attack | date=10 November 2024 }}

2024 brought a record profit of $545 million to the company, as many competitors cancelled flights to Tel Aviv due to the Gaza war. Critics charged that El Al was engaged in price gouging, but El Al denied the charge, saying it capped its prices. El Al also blamed the rise in ticket prices on a global "shortage of aircraft, engines and parts and supply chain delays."{{cite news|title=Israel's El Al Airlines 2024 profit soars to record high amid war|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/israels-el-al-airlines-2024-profit-soars-amid-war-2025-03-12/|date=March 12, 2025|publisher=Reuters|first=Steven|last= Scheer}}

File:Flag of EL AL.svg

File:60er ElAl Logo.gif

File:Beech 77 Skipper 7668.jpg]]

El Al's headquarters are located on the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport in Central District, Israel, near Lod. In 2022, El Al announced it would be moving its U.S. headquarters from New York to Miami.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-25 |title=Israeli airline El Al moving headquarters from NYC to Miami |url=https://nypost.com/2022/05/25/israeli-airline-el-al-moving-headquarters-from-nyc-to-miami/ |access-date=2022-05-27 |website=New York Post |language=en-US}}

File:Pensive Lior Suchard.jpg did the safety video for El Al.]]

During 2005, the airline transported 3.5 million passengers, a rise from 3.2 million in 2004 and 2.8 million in 2003.{{cite web|title=Financial Data |publisher=El Al |url=http://www.elal.com/ELAL/English/AboutElAl/FinancialData.htm |access-date=2007-06-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129225417/http://www.elal.com/ELAL/English/AboutElAl/FinancialData.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2006 }} 60% of the airline's passengers are Israeli.{{Cite journal | url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/02/11/221434/israel-special-flag-carrier-el-al-thrives-despite-high-fuel-costs-and-competition.html | title=Israel special—Flag carrier El Al thrives despite high fuel costs and competition | date=2008-02-11 | journal=Flight International | access-date=2008-02-23 | publisher=Flight Global}}

In 2006, El Al posted a $44.6 million loss on revenues of $1.665 billion.{{Cite web |title=Standard & Poor's El Al Income Statement Data |url=http://www.standardpoors.co.il/companies.asp?pageID=2&CleanFormat=0&companyID=118§ion=4&FDTab=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517200653/http://www.standardpoors.co.il/companies.asp?pageID=2&CleanFormat=0&companyID=118§ion=4&FDTab=1 |archive-date=May 17, 2008}} The company is facing four lawsuits, two of which have been approved as class actions, which could cost the company $176.2 million.{{when|date=May 2016}}{{cite news|last=Blumenkratz |first=Zohar |title=What irks El Al passengers |work=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleContent.jhtml?itemNo=868289 |date=2007-06-07 |access-date=June 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001044526/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleContent.jhtml?itemNo=868289 |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |url-status=live }} El Al spends $100 million a year to conform with airline security measures required by Israel's Shin Bet security service.{{cite news | first = Ora | last = Coren | title = Business in Brief-Transport minister: El Al to be compensated for surrendering its monopoly | url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/873062.html | newspaper = Haaretz | date = June 21, 2007 | access-date = 2007-06-22}} In early 2007, El Al opened a new King David Lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. New lounges at Heathrow Airport in London and JFK International Airport in New York had also opened in late 2007.{{cite news | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3352956,00.html | title=El Al opens King David lounge in Paris | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=Ynet News |date=2007-01-16|last= Zimmerman|first=Dana| newspaper=Ynetnews }}

In 2007, El Al invested NIS 1 billion in the purchase of two new Boeing 777-200s that included an updated El Al decal. The aircraft are fitted with upgraded seats with adjustable headrests and legrests. Each seat is equipped with a touch-screen entertainment system. The first aircraft, named "Sderot", completed its maiden flight from New York to Tel Aviv on 26 July 2007. The second, "Kiryat Shmona", was delivered at the end of August 2007.{{cite web| title=El Al's Ace in the Hat: The Boeing 777| url=http://www.infolive.tv/en/infolive.tv-10224-israelnews-el-als-ace-hat-boeing-777| publisher=infolive.tv| date=2007-07-31| access-date=2007-10-20}}

After the United States Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Israel's aviation safety rating to 2 in February 2009, an IATA member warned El Al, as well as competing airlines Arkia and Israir, that they may appear on the European blacklist of banned carriers. Giora Romm, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel, responded to the claim, stating: "We are in close contact with the Europeans." He added: "I don't know what the fuss is about. The Europeans' e-mail is strange. We are doing everything we can to improve security." The European Union has yet to make an official statement on the matter.{{cite web|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410730975&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |title=Airlines race to prevent European flight ban |date=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916125644/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410730975&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=2011-09-16 }} El Al uses the Amadeus CRS system for reservation, inventory, check-in and online bookings.{{cite web | url=http://www.amadeus.com/il/x86419.html|title=Amadeus Press release}} In November 2012, the United States FAA restored Israel's category 1 rating.{{cite web | url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-regains-its-high-level-aviation-ranking/|title=After 4 years, Israel regains Category 1 aviation safety ranking|website=The Times of Israel}}

El Al has a cargo branch, El Al Cargo, which became independent in 1997. As the national cargo airline of Israel, it operates between Tel Aviv, Liège, and New York, plus ad hoc worldwide charters with one Boeing 747-200F aircraft. Before 2001, when the Israeli air cargo market opened up to competition, El Al Cargo enjoyed a monopoly. Now, its main competition comes from Challenge Airlines IL.

As of December 2022, the company employs a staff of 4,610 globally, and has a fleet of 47 aircraft.{{Cite web |title=2022 ESG Report |url=https://ir.elal.com/en/financialInformation/Pages/FactSheet.aspx |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=El Al}} The company's revenues for 2023 were $2.503 billion, totaling profits of $263.7 million, compared to losses of $80.7 million in 2016 and a profit of $57 million in 2010.{{Cite web |title=Annual Data |url=https://ir.elal.com/en/financialInformation/Pages/EurolandAnnual.aspx |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=El Al}} El Al has offices in 46 countries, half of them in Europe.{{Cite web |title=Contact US |url=https://www.elal.com/eng/about-elal/contact-us |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=EL AL}}

El Al has Hebrew language voiceovers and Arabic language subtitles in its flight safety videos, which is followed by another video in English. In 2017, the safety video was presented by mentalist Lior Suchard.{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1576046119149441|title=EL AL new safety video|website=Facebook|access-date=12 May 2024}}{{Cite book |last=Manji |first=Irshad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6w_CmpF0FQC |title=The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith |date=2005-03-16 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4299-4570-7 |pages=73 |chapter=Gates and Griddles |quote=The flight's safety video, though narrated in Hebrew, had Arabic subtitles. |access-date=November 4, 2012 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6w_CmpF0FQC&dq=%22safety+video%2C+though+narrated+in+Hebrew%22&pg=PA73}}

During the period of Shabbat, El Al observes Jewish religious traditions by refraining from flight operations and occasionally diverting flights or refraining from takeoff if the scheduled arrival would occur on a Saturday.{{Cite web |last=Kaplan |first=Josh |title=El Al breaks Shabbat flight ban for first time in 40 years to bring troops to Israel |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/el-al-breaks-shabbat-flight-ban-for-first-time-in-40-years-to-bring-troops-to-israel-d0zys72u |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=www.thejc.com |date=12 October 2023 |language=en}} Exceptions to this practice are exceptionally rare, having only occurred twice in the airline's history: first during the First Lebanon War and later during the Gaza war, when flights operated on Shabbat due to exceptional circumstances.

{{Update section|date=March 2020}}

The key trends for El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):{{cite web|url = http://www.elal.com/en/About-ELAL/About-ELAL/Investor-Relations/FinancialInformation/Pages/2015.aspx|title = Financial Information|publisher = El Al|access-date =January 21, 2016|date=2015}}

The main business of Borenstein, a company fully owned by El Al, registered in the U.S. and operating at New York's JFK airport, is the production and supply of kosher ready meals to airlines and other institutions.

Katit (a company fully owned by El Al) is mainly engaged in the production and supply of meals to the company's employees.

File:OM-JEX.jpg operated by El Al]]

{{main|Sun d'Or}}

The charter operations of the group is carried out through Sun d'Or, a company fully owned by El Al. Sun d'Or operates as a tourist organizer for wholesalers and individuals and markets charter and scheduled flights, both by means of leasing full aircraft capacity to third parties, or aircraft parts' capacity to a number of partners for pre-negotiated prices, or by direct sales. Starting from 2011, Sun d'Or operates as a tourist organizer, while maintaining the "Sun d'Or" brand for scheduled and charter flights marketed by Sun d'Or. In March 2011, The Israel Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the suspension of Sun d'Or's operating license effective 1 April 2011. The CAA based its decision citing non-compliance with Israeli and international airline management standards, mainly lack of self-owned planes and crew.{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/20/354557/israels-sun-dor-has-operating-licence-withdrawn.html|title=Israel's Sun d'Or has operating licence withdrawn}} Since then, Sun d'Or no longer operates own aircraft but utilizes planes from its parent, El Al.

Superstar (a company fully owned by El Al) is a tourist wholesaler that markets tourist package deals to travel agents and passengers, and sells airline tickets at discounted prices for flights on the company's routes.

Tamam (a company fully owned by El Al) is mainly engaged in the production and supply of kosher ready meals to airline companies.

File:4X-EKO - EL-AL אל על - Boeing 737-86Q - BUD-TLV - 20-Jan-2016 (24433106621).jpg]]

{{main|Up (airline)}}

On 26 November 2013, El Al unveiled its now-defunct low cost airline "Up",{{cite web|url=http://images1.ynet.co.il/PicServer3/2013/11/26/4997413/4997349391291640360no.jpg |title=UP livery on a 737-800 |access-date=2014-07-18}}{{cite web|last=Elis |first=Niv |url=http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business-News/El-Al-launches-low-cost-flight-brand-Up-333054 |title=El Al starting low cost airline |publisher=Jpost.com |date=2013-11-26 |access-date=2014-07-18}} which commenced operations on 30 March 2014, initially to Berlin, Budapest, Kyiv, Larnaca and Prague using five Boeing 737-800s transferred from the El Al fleet. Up was founded by its parent El Al to be used on some routes to Europe where it replaced El Al itself. All Up flights were operated by El Al, using El Al's call sign and codes with a four digit number. For flights over two hours, the airline offered a buy on board service.{{cite web|url=http://www.flyup.com/SiteCollectionImages/Menu/Menu.pdf|title=Menu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822012449/http://www.flyup.com/SiteCollectionImages/Menu/Menu.pdf|archive-date=2014-08-22|publisher=Up|page=5|access-date=21 August 2014}}

In August 2014, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary foreshadowed the development of a Ryanair Israel, connecting Israel with cities across Europe. He said an inhibiting factor in the plan was Israeli authorities' protectiveness of El Al from competition. The CEO of Up wished to recreate the airline business world.{{cite news|title=Israeli market beckons Ryanair|url=http://www.irishsun.com/index.php/sid/225083355|date=25 August 2014|access-date=25 August 2014|publisher=Irish Sun.com}} Ryanair started serving Ovda Airport and Ben Gurion Airport in the winter season 2017-18 from several airports throughout Europe.

Up ceased operations on 14 October 2018. All of its six destinations and fleet were reintegrated into mainline El Al operations.{{Cite web |last=Nadalet |first=Ivan |date=4 January 2018 |title=Israel's El Al to drop UP budget brand |url=https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/63062-israels-el-al-to-drop-up-budget-brand |website=ch-aviation.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/el-al-cancels-low-cost-brand-up-33481|title=EL AL cancels low-cost brand UP, plans to implement new tourist class format|publisher=JOL|date=4 January 2018|access-date=2018-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714031254/http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/el-al-cancels-low-cost-brand-up-33481|archive-date=2018-07-14|url-status=dead}}

Israel's airport security measures were instituted in 1968 after the El Al Flight 426 hijacking by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It was the first aviation attack motivated by political aims.{{cite journal |last1=Hasisi |first1=Badi |title=Ethnic Profiling In Airport Screening: Lessons From Israel, 1968-2010 |journal=American Law and Economics Review |date=Fall 2012 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=517–560 |doi=10.1093/aler/ahs009 |jstor=42705624 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42705624|url-access=subscription }}

El Al employs stringent security procedures, both on the ground and onboard its aircraft. These time-consuming procedures have won El Al's security reputation. In 2008, it was named by Global Traveler magazine as the world's most secure airline.

Certain El Al planes have been fitted with counter-measures against anti-aircraft missiles since the early 2000s, with the initial system known as Flight Guard.{{cite news|last=Vause|first=John|title=Missile defense for El Al fleet|publisher=CNN |date= 24 May 2004|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/24/air.defense/|access-date=2007-11-30}}{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Dan |title=El Al Fits Fleet with Anti-Missile System |agency=Reuters |date=February 16, 2006 |url=http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1540304&C=airwar |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728104731/http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1540304&C=airwar |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |access-date=2007-11-30 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.iai.co.il/Default.aspx?docID=25873&FolderID=28973&lang=en&PageNum=3|title=IAI/Elta's "Flight Guard" Commercial Aircraft Protection System Funded|date=2003-09-08|publisher=Israeli Aerospace Industries}}{{cite news | url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=683390&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5 | title=El Al Airlines installs anti-missile systems on passenger aircraft| access-date=2007-05-07 | newspaper=Haaretz|quote=El Al, Israel's national carrier and largest airline|date=2006-02-15}} In 2014, El Al began to fit some of its planes that fly on more sensitive routes with an updated missile approach warning system (MAWS) that employs an infrared missile-tracking camera, an "infrared (IR), ultra-violet (UV), or radar missile-approach warning sensor to detect a missile launch in the very early stages of an attack" and a laser system to act as a counter-measure.{{cite news|last=Ferran|first=Lee|date=July 23, 2014|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/israeli-airline-missile-defenses-israel-us-carriers-wont/story?id=24684650|title=Israeli Airline With Missile Defenses Goes to Israel When US Carriers Won't|work=ABC News}} In November 2014, under the Israeli government's SkyShield programme, Elbit's Commercial Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasures (C-MUSIC) system was adopted by El Al.{{cite news |author=Jennings |first=Gareth |date=7 November 2014 |title=Israel adopts C-MUSIC missile protection system for national airliners |url=http://www.janes.com/article/45493/israel-adopts-c-music-missile-protection-system-for-national-airliners |work=IHS Jane's Defence Weekly |location=London}}

There are four layers of airport security procedures in Israel: early detection outside the airport zone, airport access control, passenger and baggage screening, and on-board security. In the first layer, El Al Staff screen passenger lists before passengers' arrival at the airport.

At Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, plainclothes and uniformed agents monitor the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats. Armed security personnel also patrol El Al terminals overseas. Inside the terminal, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers are asked questions about their place of origin, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves.

Passengers have to show up at the airport three hours before their flight, in order to be checked at a barrier on the road to the terminal. Arabs, including Israeli Arab citizens, are checked more stringently than any other ethnic group.{{Cite web |last=Silver |first=Eric |date=2006-08-14 |title=Flying under the eagle eyes of El Al's famed high security |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/flying-under-the-eagle-eyes-of-el-als-famed-high-security/FE65IFVBJ7EEYNP3TYVHTYCDPY/?c_id=2&objectid=10396216 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} At the check-in counter, passengers' passports and tickets are closely examined. A passport without a sticker from the security checkers will not be accepted. At passport control, passengers' names are checked against information from the FBI, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Scotland Yard, Shin Bet, and Interpol databases. Luggage is screened and sometimes hand searched. In addition, bags are put through a decompression chamber simulating pressures during flight that could trigger explosives.{{cite web|url=http://www.segl.com/xj.php |title=El Al Decompression Chamber |access-date=2016-05-15 |publisher=Simcoe Engineering Group Limited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518105847/http://www.segl.com/xj.php |archive-date=May 18, 2008 }} Even at overseas airports, El Al security agents conduct all luggage searches personally, even if they are supervised by government or private security firms.{{cite news|title= El Al wants to do own bag screening at Newark|newspaper= USA Today|agency= Associated Press|date=2006-05-12|url= https://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-05-12-el-al-security_x.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140723210156/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-05-12-el-al-security_x.htm|archive-date=2014-07-23}}

Undercover agents (sometimes referred to as sky marshals) carrying concealed firearms sit among the passengers on every international El Al flight.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2097352.stm | title=El Al sets security standards | date=2002-07-05| access-date=2007-05-07 | work=BBC News }} Most El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force pilots.{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/09/26/rec.el.al.security |title=Model for air travel security may be El Al |date=2001-09-26 |access-date=2007-05-07 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070624055720/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/09/26/rec.el.al.security/ |archive-date=2007-06-24 }}{{refn|Most, but not all, El Al's pilots are former pilots of the Israeli Air Force. An article dedicated to an El Al female captain can be found at [https://web.archive.org/web/20111007212602/http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/137646/ "With Yom Haatzmaut Festivities, a Gender Barrier Is Broken"], The Sisterhood, The Forward. |group=note}} The cockpits in all El Al aircraft have double doors to prevent entry by unauthorized persons. A code is required to access the doors, and the second door will open only after the first has closed and the person has been identified by the captain or first officer. Furthermore, there are reinforced steel floors separating the passenger cabin from the baggage hold.{{cite news | url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10396216 | title=Flying under the eagle eyes of El Al's famed high security | access-date=2006-08-15 | newspaper=New Zealand Herald |last=Silver |first=Eric| date=2006-08-15}}

In April 2013, the Israeli government increased payments to El Al to secure 97.5% of the airline's security costs ahead of the Open Skies agreement to take effect in 2014 with the European Union.{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/breaking-news/israel-increases-el-al-security-payments-end-strike-over-open-skies-deal |title=Israel Increases El Al Security Payments To End Strike Over Open Skies Deal |publisher=The Jewish Week |date=2013-04-22 |access-date=2013-07-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501040729/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/breaking-news/israel-increases-el-al-security-payments-end-strike-over-open-skies-deal |archive-date=2013-05-01 }}

The airline was criticized by Hungarian courts for refusing to search luggage with the passenger present, acting against Hungarian domestic laws stipulating that only authorized officials are able to undertake such searches.{{cite web | url=http://www.no-racism.org/arabic/data/publications/AirportReportEnglish.pdf | title=Suspected Citizens: Racial Profiling Against Arab and non Jewish Passengers by Israeli Airlines and Airports | last=Tarek | first=Ibrahim | date=December 2006 | access-date=2007-03-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628111608/http://www.no-racism.org/arabic/data/publications/AirportReportEnglish.pdf | archive-date=2007-06-28 | url-status=dead }}

In 2008, a civil case was brought to the Supreme Court of Israel by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which alleged that El Al's practice of ethnic profiling illegally singled out Arab passengers for tougher treatment.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/rights-group-says-airport-s-racial-profiling-violates-israeli-law-1.241906|title=Rights Group Says Airport's Racial Profiling Violates Israeli Law|agency=Associated Press|website=Haaretz|date=March 20, 2008}} The group had petitioned "for the complete elimination of racial profiling" by the airline.{{Cite web |last=Bob |first=Yonah Jeremy |date=2015-03-11 |title=High Court rules on racial profiling at Ben-Gurion Airport |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/high-court-rules-on-racial-profiling-at-ben-gurion-airport-393592 |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=The Jerusalem Post}} In 2015, the court dismissed the petition on procedural grounds, accepting in part the government's argument "that it could not completely change without heavily burdening all travelers," but reimbursing the Association for Civil Rights in Israel a total of NIS 30,000 for its legal fees, and finding that the petition "had already gotten security to be less discriminatory." The court left the door open for a renewed petition in the future if required.

In September 2014, it was reported that there have been repeated incidents where some ultra-Orthodox male passengers refused to sit next to female passengers, sometimes delaying flights. As a result, a petition was initiated with Change.org to pressure El Al to alter their policy of allowing ultra-Orthodox passengers on flights to negotiate switching seats. The petition reads: "Why does El Al Airlines permit female passengers to be bullied, harassed, and intimidated into switching seats which they rightfully paid for and were assigned to by El Al Airlines? One person's religious rights do not trump another person's civil rights."{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.618140|title=Petition asks El Al to get tough on ultra-Orthodox "bullying and harassing" of female passengers|date=29 September 2014|work=Haaretz.com|access-date=24 April 2015}}{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Gail |date=26 September 2014 |title=Ultra-Orthodox Jews delay El Al flight, refusing to sit near women |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/26/ultra-orthodox-jews-delay-el-al-flight-refusing-to-sit-near-women/ |access-date=24 April 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286}}{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2014/09/26/ultra-orthodox-jews-delay-flight-refuse-to-sit-next-to-women/|title=Ultra-Orthodox Jews refuse to sit next to women, delay flight|work=New York Post|date=26 September 2014|access-date=24 April 2015}}{{Cite news |last=Sherwood |first=Harriet |date=2014-09-30 |title=Israeli airline urged to stop 'bullying' of women by ultra-orthodox passengers |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/israeli-airline-ultra-orthodox-men-bullying-women |access-date=2023-09-25 |issn=0261-3077}}

Following the incidents, Iris Richman, founder of Jewish Voices Together, a group created to address issues of religious pluralism in Israel and the U.S., encouraged passengers to protest this behavior through the US government, referencing "49 U.S. Code § 40127 – Prohibitions on discrimination: Persons in Air Transportation". According to this directive, she wrote, "An air carrier or foreign air carrier may not subject a person in air transportation to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry." Richman contacted the U.S. Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection Division, and stated the department "is willing to investigate any situation where any employee of a carrier – i. e., a steward/ess – participated in asking someone to change a seat because of their gender".{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.618630|title=El Al "gender discrimination" may violate U.S. law, claims N.Y. activist rabbi|date=1 October 2014|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=24 April 2015}}

In November 2014, Tova Ross, in The Forward,{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/about-us/?attribution=home-footer-links|title=About Us|website=The Forward|access-date=2016-06-16}} disagreed that this is discrimination against women. She wrote, "... If we [women] want the right to pray and practice and dress in the ways we see fit, why do we cast such caustic aspersions on the premise of a man who calmly asks to change his seat in order for him not to stray from his preferred religious outlook?" ... "A favor for a fellow human being, no matter how archaic we may deem his beliefs. We are indulging a request that we may neither understand nor agree with, but if it doesn't really put us out, if the flight isn't full, and there is in fact someone who will easily volunteer to switch seats, then what is everyone's colossal problem with the mere premise?"{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/sisterhood/208468/dont-judge-hasidic-seat-switchers/|title=Don't Judge Hasidic Seat-Switchers|website=The Forward|date=4 November 2014 |access-date=2016-06-16}}

El Al said that it would not put a policy in place to handle situations where male Haredim refuse to sit next to female passengers, but would instead attempt to satisfy passengers involved in such incidents on a case-by-case basis.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.618517|title=El Al won't put in place policy on ultra-Orthodox men who refuse to sit by women|date=30 September 2014|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=24 April 2015}}

In February 2016, Renee Rabinowitz filed a successful lawsuit against El Al, after being involved in an incident where an ultra-Orthodox man refused to sit next to her on a flight from Newark International Airport to Tel Aviv and the flight attendants asked her to move seats.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/world/middleeast/woman-81-to-sue-israeli-airline-over-seat-switch.html|title=She Was Asked to Switch Seats. Now She's Charging El Al With Sexism.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 February 2016|access-date=1 March 2016}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4771534,00.html|title =El Al lawsuit could set gender discrimination precedent|publisher=Y Net News|date=27 February 2016}} Later in 2018, the airline decided to immediately remove any passengers who refuse to sit next to a woman.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/el-al-faces-boycott-after-moving-women-ultra-orthodox-jewish-n886521|title=Israeli airline to remove passengers who refuse to sit next to women|work=NBC News|access-date=2018-06-27|language=en-US}}

Despite the international sanctions imposed on Russia due to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, El Al continues to operate flights to and from Russia. This decision, which was carried out at the request of the Israeli government to enable Russian Jews to travel to Israel, has drawn criticism for indirectly supporting Russia's economy during its military aggression in Ukraine.https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/israel-in-balancing-act-to-keep-its-airlines-flying-to-russia/https://kyivindependent.com/israeli-el-al-resumes-russia-flights-after-4-month-suspension/ Some believe El Al's ongoing operations to Russia disregard the ethical implications of the conflict, prioritizing profits over solidarity with international sanctions aimed at curbing Russia's actions.

{{main|List of El Al destinations}}

File:El Al Israel Airlines Destinations.svg. {{legend|#ff5c5c|Israel}} {{legend|#0066ff|El Al destinations}} {{legend|#b380ff|Cargo only destinations}} {{legend|#ff80b2|Codeshare only destinations}}]]

El Al serves destinations on four continents in 31 countries with a well-developed European network including the transcontinental nation of Russia. The airline serves a number of gateway cities in North America such as New York–JFK, Newark, Miami, Los Angeles, and Boston. They have also expanded their service to Asia such as Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Mumbai, Beijing–Capital, and Hong Kong. From its founding until 2020, El Al's inability to overfly Saudi Arabian airspace, along with that of several other Arab and Muslim countries, has reduced their ability to further expand their route network in Asia. In 2018, Saudi Arabia granted permission to Air India to fly a five times weekly flight from Tel Aviv to New Delhi using Saudi Arabian airspace.{{Cite web|url=http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AIC140/history/20190915/1935Z/LLBG/VIDP|title=Air India (AI) #140 ✈ 15-Sep-2019 ✈ TLV / LLBG - DEL / VIDP ✈ FlightAware|website=FlightAware}}{{cite news | url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-El-Al-to-take-its-row-over-Saudi-airspace-to-Supreme-Court-546950 | title= ISRAEL'S EL AL TO TAKE ITS ROW OVER SAUDI AIRSPACE TO SUPREME COURT | work=The Jerusalem Post | date=March 23, 2018}} If Saudi Arabia did not allow El Al to use their airspace, El Al might have lost a large share of their Asian market due to other airlines having shorter and cheaper flights. However, Saudi Arabia opened their airspace to Israeli aircraft for the first time in September 2020.{{Cite news|last=Specia|first=Megan|date=2020-09-02|title=Saudi Arabia Opens Airspace to Israeli Flights for First Time|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/world/middleeast/saudi-airspace-israel-uae.html|access-date=2021-04-02|issn=0362-4331}} El Al also offers services to Johannesburg in South Africa and Zanzibar.{{cite web | url=http://www.airlineroutemaps.com/West_Asia/El_Al_europe.shtml | title=El Al European Route Map |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Airline Route Maps}}{{cite web|url=http://www.airlineroutemaps.com/West_Asia/El_Al_international.shtml |title=El Al Worldwide Route Map |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Airline Route Maps}}

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, the airline had plans to perform experimental direct flights between Tel Aviv and Melbourne. The service would have been the airline's longest-ever direct flight and the first direct connection between Israel and Australia.

In June 2022, the airline announced that it would permanently terminate flights from Toronto–Pearson effective October 27, 2022. The decision ended an over-40-year presence in Canada. In response, a petition was launched on Change.org to try and reverse the decision.{{Cite web |url=https://thecjn.ca/news/el-al-to-stop-flying-out-of-canada-with-no-trips-from-toronto-starting-this-fall/ |title=El Al to stop flying out of Canada, with no trips from Toronto starting this fall |last=Sarick |first=Lila |website=thecjn.ca |publisher=The Canadian Jewish News |date=2022-06-22 |access-date=2022-06-24}} El Al also announced that it was cancelling its routes to Brussels Airport and Warsaw Chopin Airport.{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/el-al-canceling-routes-to-toronto-warsaw-brussels/ |title=El Al canceling routes to Toronto, Warsaw, Brussels |date=2022-06-23 |website=The Times of Israel |access-date=2022-06-24}}

In December 2022, the airline started to sell tickets to its highly anticipated route of Ben Gurion Airport to Tokyo-Narita Airport, which was inaugurated on March 2, 2023.{{Cite web |url=https://www.elal.com/flight-deals/en-il/flights-from-tel-aviv-to-tokyo |title=Flights From Tel Aviv to Tokyo |website=www.elal.com |publisher=El Al |access-date=2023-05-30}}{{Cite web |title=EL AL Israel Airlines will Launch a New Service to Tel Aviv on 2 March! |url=http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/whats_new/230302_ely |access-date=2023-10-06 |website=NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OFFICIAL WEBSITE |language=en}} The route was originally planned to launch in March 2020, but due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the route was delayed until further notice.

On 14 March 2023, El Al and the Victoria state government signed a letter of intent, in which El Al intents to inaugurate direct flights to Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Australia. While there is no exact date for the beginning of these flights, the letter of intent stated that these flights should begin by June 2024. These flights will be operated by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and are expected to add 44,000 seats on flights to Melbourne per year.{{Cite web |title=Direct Israel Flights To Boost Business And Jobs {{!}} Premier of Victoria |url=http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/direct-israel-flights-boost-business-and-jobs |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=www.premier.vic.gov.au |language=en}} These flights will take 15 hours eastbound (Israel to Australia) and 17 hours westbound (Australia to Israel).{{Cite web |date=23 March 2023 |title=Israel's El Al inks LOI for Melbourne flights |url=https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/125795-israels-el-al-inks-loi-for-melbourne-flights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022123252/https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/125795-israels-el-al-inks-loi-for-melbourne-flights |archive-date=22 October 2023 |access-date=22 October 2023 |website=ch-aviation |language=en}}{{Better source needed|reason=The website the citation is from is obscure and not listed at WP:RPS|date=October 2023}}

On 26 October 2023, El Al said it will cancel its seasonal routes (Dublin, Marseille, Tokyo) which were due to terminate in the October–November early due to the Gaza war and will delay the launch of its planned New Delhi & Mumbai routes until further notice. El Al said it plans to resume their seasonal routes in April 2024 (the end of IATA's winter schedule).{{Cite web |date=2023-10-26 |title=Israel's El Al suspends India flight services, cancels seasonal routes |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/israels-el-al-suspends-india-195625969.html |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2021-03-06 |script-title=he:עקב המצב הביטחוני: אל על מעדכנת את לוח הטיסות |trans-title=Due to the security situation: El Al is updating the flight schedule |url=https://www.port2port.co.il/article/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%90%D7%95%D7%95%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA/%D7%97%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%AA%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%94/%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%91-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%91-%D7%94%D7%91%D7%99%D7%98%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99-%D7%90%D7%9C-%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%AA-%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%97-%D7%94%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%AA/ |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=port2port |language=he}}

One of the oldest El Al routes, the flights to Johannesburg, South Africa was terminated in March 2024.{{Cite web |last=Miltz |first=Nicola |date=2024-02-01 |title=End of runway for EL AL in SA |url=https://www.sajr.co.za/end-of-runway-for-el-al-in-sa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214041146/https://www.sajr.co.za/end-of-runway-for-el-al-in-sa/ |archive-date=2024-02-14 |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Jewish Report}}

El Al codeshares with the following airlines:{{cite web|url=http://centreforaviation.com/profiles/airlines/el-al-ly |title=Profile on El Al |website=CAPA|publisher=Centre for Aviation|access-date=2016-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029204044/http://centreforaviation.com/profiles/airlines/el-al-ly |archive-date=2016-10-29|url-status=live}}

{{div col}}

• Aerolíneas Argentinas{{cite news|last1=Liu|first1=Jim|title=Aerolineas Argentinas / El Al begins codeshare partnership from Sep 2017|url=http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/274908/aerolineas-argentinas-el-al-begins-codeshare-partnership-from-sep-2017/|access-date=22 September 2017|date=22 September 2017}}{{cite web|title=Aerolíneas Argentinas y El Al Israel Airlines anuncian acuerdo de código compartido|url=http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/es-ar/prensa/comunicadoprensainterno/4265_aerolineas-argentinas-y-el-al-israel-airlines-anuncian-acuerdo-de-codigo-compartido#|publisher=Aerolineas Argentinas S.A.|access-date=22 September 2017}}
• Aeroméxico{{Cite press release|url=http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/08/02/1071038/0/en/AEROMEXICO-AND-EL-AL-ISRAEL-AIRLINES-SIGN-A-CODE-SHARE-AGREEMENT.html|title=AEROMEXICO AND EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES SIGN A CODE SHARE AGREEMENT|date=August 2, 2017|website=GlobeNewswire News Room}}
• Air China
• Air France{{cite news |title=Air France / El Al Begins Reciprocal Codeshare Partnership in NS24 |url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240311-aflycodeshare |access-date=11 March 2024 |work=AeroRoutes |date=11 March 2024 |language=en-CA}}
• Air Serbia
• Azerbaijan Airlines{{cite news |last1=Ismayilov |first1=Emil |title=AZAL enters codeshare agreement with Israel's El Al |url=https://en.apa.az/infrastructure/azal-enters-codeshare-agreement-with-israels-el-al-460253 |access-date=11 February 2025 |work=Apa.az |agency=Azeri-Press Agency (APA) LLC |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Liu |first1=Jim |title=Azerbaijan Airlines expands Etihad codeshare partnership in S19 |url=https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/284064/azerbaijan-airlines-expands-etihad-codeshare-partnership-in-s19/ |access-date=26 April 2019 |work=Routesonline |date=26 April 2019 |archive-date=30 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230041626/https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/284064/azerbaijan-airlines-expands-etihad-codeshare-partnership-in-s19/ |url-status=live }}
• Delta Air Lines{{cite web|url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231218-dllycodeshare|title=Delta / El Al codeshare partnership from Jan 2024|publisher=AeroRoutes|date=18 December 2023}}
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Etihad Airways{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/el-al-israel-etihad-air-sign-mou-on-codeshare-loyalty-program/ar-BB1ba00R|title = EL al Israel, Etihad Air Sign MoU on Codeshare, Loyalty Program|website = MSN}}
• Gulf Air
• Hong Kong Airlines{{Cite web|url=https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/hong-kong-airlines-and-el-al-israel-airlines-announce-reciprocal-codeshare-agreement|title=Hong Kong Airlines and EL AL Israel Airlines announce reciprocal codeshare agreement|website=TravelDailyNews International|date=6 June 2018 }}
• Iberia
• JetBlue
• Kenya Airways
• KLM{{cite web|url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240722-lyklcodeshare|title=El Al/KLM begins codeshare from mid-July 2024|website=aeroroutes.com|date=22 July 2024}}
• LATAM Brasil
• LOT Polish Airlines{{Cite web|url=https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/282156/el-al-lot-polish-airlines-begins-codeshare-service-from-late-dec-2018/|title=El Al / LOT Polish Airlines begins codeshare service from late-Dec 2018|website=Routesonline}}
• Porter Airlines
• Qantas{{cite news|last1=Liu|first1=Jim|title=El Al / Qantas codeshare partnership begins in Sep 2017|url=http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/274670/el-al-qantas-codeshare-partnership-begins-in-sep-2017/|access-date=7 September 2017|work=Routesonline|date=7 September 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Liu |first1=Jim |title=Qantas Adds El Al Tokyo – Tel Aviv Codeshare in NW24 |url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240919-qflycodeshare |access-date=20 September 2024 |work=AeroRoutes |date=19 September 2024 |language=en-CA}}
• Scandinavian Airlines{{cite news |title=El Al / SAS Begins Codeshare Partnership From Feb 2024 |url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240129-sklycodeshare |access-date=29 January 2024 |work=AeroRoutes |date=29 January 2024 |language=en-CA}}
• Swiss International Air Lines
• TAP Air Portugal{{cite news|last1=Liu|first1=Jim|title=El Al / TAP Air Portugal begins codeshare service from Oct 2017|url=http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275675/el-al-tap-air-portugal-begins-codeshare-service-from-oct-2017/|access-date=10 November 2017|work=Routesonline|date=10 November 2017}}
• Thai Airways International{{cite news|last1=Liu|first1=Jim|title=El Al / THAI expands codeshare service from Oct 2017|url=http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275098/el-al-thai-expands-codeshare-service-from-oct-2017/|access-date=5 October 2017|work=Routesonline|date=4 October 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Liu |first1=Jim |title=El Al Expands THAI Codeshare to Japan From August 2024 |url=https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240722-lytgcodeshare |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=AeroRoutes |date=23 July 2024 |language=en-CA}}
• TAROM{{cite news |last1=Genn |first1=James |title=El Al and Romania's TAROM launch codeshare, boosting Tel Aviv-Bucharest flights |url=https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-846583 |access-date=18 March 2025 |work=JPost.com |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=18 March 2025 |language=en}}
• Vietnam Airlines{{cite news |last1=Liu |first1=Jim |title=El Al / Vietnam Airlines begins codeshare partnership from Nov 2018 |url=https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/281469/el-al-vietnam-airlines-begins-codeshare-partnership-from-nov-2018/ |access-date=12 November 2018 |work=Routesonline |date=12 November 2018}}
• Virgin Atlantic{{cite news |last1=Scheer |first1=Steven |title=Israel's El Al, UK's Virgin Atlantic sign code share deal for London flights |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/israels-el-al-uks-virgin-atlantic-sign-code-share-deal-london-flights-2024-06-03/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |publisher=Reuters |date=3 June 2024}}

{{div col end}}

File:BGN 190523 4X-EKT.jpg]]

File:4X-ECB Micha.jpg]]

File:4X-EDF Micha a.jpg wearing a 1960s retro livery{{cite web|title=El Al Goes Retro with New 787 Special Livery|url=https://airlinegeeks.com/2018/07/26/el-al-goes-retro-with-a-new-787-retro-livery/|author=Pallini, Thomas|work=Airline Geeks|date=2018-07-26|access-date=2018-08-23}}]]

{{As of|2025|05|df=US}}, El Al operates an all-Boeing fleet composed of the following aircraft:{{cite web|url=https://www.elal.com/eng/about-elal/our-fleet|title=Our Fleet|website=El Al|access-date=21 May 2022}}

File:Boeing 767-258(ER), El Al Israel Airlines JP6582976.jpg. El Al was the launch customer for this variant of the Boeing 767.]]

File:El Al Boeing 747-200 Marmet.jpg]]

El Al used to operate the following types of aircraft as well:

{{Div col}}

• Boeing 707
• Boeing 720
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 737-700{{cite web|url=https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/46117-el-al-ends-b737-700-operations|title=El Al ends B737-700 operations|website=ch-aviation.com|date=10 May 2016}}
• Boeing 747-100
• Boeing 747-200
• Boeing 747-300
• Boeing 747-400
• Boeing 747-400F{{cite web|url=https://passportnews.co.il/אל-על-נפרדת-ממטוס-המטען-שלה|script-title=he:אל על נפרדת ממטוס המטען שלה|trans-title=El Al Retires Last Cargo plane|language=Hebrew|date=July 1, 2019}}
• Boeing 757-200{{cite web|url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/AboutElAl/ELAL_News_En_items/ELAL_News_261112.htm |title=EL AL Retiring the Last of its Boeing 757 Aircraft from Service | EL AL Airlines |publisher=Elal.co.il |date=2012-11-26 |access-date=2013-07-04}}
• Boeing 767-200ER
• Boeing 767-300ER{{cite web|url=http://aeronauticsonline.com/el-al-retires-last-boeing-767/|website=aeronauticsonline.com|title=El Al Retires Last Boeing 767|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730233325/http://aeronauticsonline.com/el-al-retires-last-boeing-767/ |archive-date=2020-07-30 |date=5 February 2019}}
• Bristol Britannia
• Curtiss C-46 Commando
• Douglas DC-4
• Lockheed Constellation
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11

{{Div col end}}

El Al's historic, superseded livery featured a turquoise/navy blue stripe down the side of the aircraft, and a turquoise tailfin with the flag of Israel at the top. El Al's logo was featured above the front run of windows on each side of the plane in the turquoise/navy scheme.{{cite web | url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/El-Al-Israel-Airlines/Boeing-757-258/1166039| title=El Al Superseded Livery | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=Airliners.net}} The new livery features a blue stripe with a thick silver border on the bottom that sweeps across the side of the aircraft near the wing, disappears over the top of the plane and reappears at the bottom of the tailfin. The El Al logo is part of the design, although it has been changed slightly since then. Most of El Al's aircraft are named for Israeli cities, such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bet Shemesh, Nazeret, Haifa, and others. The larger the aircraft – the bigger or more populated the city it is named after. The cities' names are located near the nose of the plane beneath the cockpit windows.{{cite web | url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/El-Al-Israel-Airlines/Boeing-777-258-ER/1206451| title=El Al New Livery | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=Airliners.net}} One aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, is painted in the livery that El Al used in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the airline's 70th year of operations, using a gray belly, white roof with El Al titles, a blue cheatline, and the flag of Israel on the vertical stabilizer that was introduced with the introduction of the Boeing 707 to the El Al fleet.

By contrast, El Al's cargo plane livery in the past lacks the painting of Israel's flag and its airline identity; only the word "Cargo" appears on the fuselage. Subsequently, the most recent cargo plane livery (a now retired Boeing 747-400F) was painted white except for the airline's name and "Cargo".

Matmid is El Al's present frequent flyer program. King David club cards (red) were issued 1991. It was re-launched in 2004 following the merger of El Al's previous frequent flyer programs. It has five tiers: Matmid, Matmid Silver, Matmid Gold, Matmid Platinum and Matmid TOP Platinum. Points accumulated in the program entitle members to bonus tickets, flight upgrades, and discounts on car rentals, hotel stays, and other products and services.

Points are awarded for travel with El Al flights, partner airlines, as well as for nights at partner hotels and for credit card purchases.{{cite web | url=http://www.superstar.de/flyer/News/New%20Matmid%20Club%20Broschure.pdf | title=Matmid Club | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=Superstar Travel | archive-date=2007-06-28 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628111606/http://www.superstar.de/flyer/News/New%20Matmid%20Club%20Broschure.pdf | url-status=dead }} Matmid points can be collected on most flights operated by South African Airways, Sun D'Or, Qantas and limited Aeroméxico{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/MatmidFrequentFlyer/BenefitsFromELALPartners/Airlines/AeroMexico.htm | title=El Al Partner Airlines | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=El Al}} and Delta{{Cite web |title=Delta Air Lines and EL AL Israel Airlines to launch strategic partnership {{!}} Delta News Hub |url=https://news.delta.com/delta-air-lines-and-el-al-israel-airlines-launch-strategic-partnership |access-date=2023-08-05 |website=news.delta.com |date=29 June 2023 |language=en}} flights. Points are accumulated for any fares (ex. promotions), and points age—i.e. lose their validity after three years. To join Matmid, a one-time fee must be paid.

The King David Lounge is the name adopted by El Al for special airport lounges that serve the airline's premium class passengers. There are six King David Lounges worldwide at the key airports at Ben Gurion International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, London Heathrow Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/MatmidFrequentFlyer/AboutTheClub/KingDavidClub.htm | title=El Al King David Lounge | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=El Al}} All King David Lounges offer drinks, snacks, newspapers and magazines (Israeli and foreign), while some lounges also offer free Wi-Fi internet access. The King David Lounge at Terminal 3 at Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion airport is equipped with a telephone, shower facilities and a spa; it has a separate section for first-class passengers.{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/AllAboutYourFlight/PremiumClasses/FirstClass/kingDavidLounge.htm | title=El Al King David Lounge Spa | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=El Al | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218195154/http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/AllAboutYourFlight/PremiumClasses/FirstClass/kingDavidLounge.htm | archive-date=2008-12-18 | url-status=dead }}

File:ElalPl 737-900.jpg]]

El Al offers three types of classes on its planes:

• Business class – on all planes (type of business seat changes with type of aircraft).
• On the 787 and 777 (new cabin) – Business class is in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring lie-flat seats in a staggered layout. Business class on the 777's new cabin has a seat pitch of 42-43" pitch, 80" bed length, and 21" width; on the 787, the dimensions are 42-43" pitch, 78" bed length, and 21" width.
• On the 777 (original cabin) – 777s which are yet to be retrofitted with the new cabin have a 2-3-2 business class configuration, with angled-flat seats having a seat pitch of 75-76" and 20" width, as well as a 2–2–2 first configuration, featuring lie-flat seats with a pitch of 79" and 21" wide. The latter seats originally operated a true first class; however, since El Al's first class was discontinued in 2019 (alongside the retirement of the 747 fleet), they operate as business class seats as well.
• On the 737 – Business class is in a 2-2 configuration, with recliner seats having a 42-44" pitch and 20.5" width. El Al's business class has dedicated seats (similarly to domestic first class in North America), as opposed to economy class seats with a blocked middle seat common in short-haul business class in European airliners.
• Premium economy class – on the 787 and 777 (new cabin). On the 777's new cabin, Premium economy is in a 2-4-2 configuration, with a seat pitch of 38" and 20" width. On the 787, the seats are in a 2-3-2 configuration, with dimensions of 38" pitch and 18.5" width.
• Economy class – All planes. Economy class has a seat pitch of 31" (32" on the 737) and 17" seat width (18" on the original 777 cabin).

Personal AVOD screens are provided on all Boeing 777-200ERs and Boeing 787s, which also have a Wi-Fi network enabling access to the Internet using Viasat technology. Internet access is only available on flights to Europe, North America, and the Middle East, due to coverage restrictions.

AVOD Streaming via a closed Wi-Fi network (i.e. without internet access) is provided on all Boeing 737s, where there are no personal AVOD screens.

File:Monument Bijlmerramp.jpg, Amsterdam of 4 October 1992. The monument was designed by architect Herman Hertzberger together with survivors.]]

Over its history, El Al has been involved in the following incidents and accidents, involving both the aircraft actually operated by the airline and its outstations abroad. Most of these incidents are related to Palestinian terrorism, particularly in the period between 1968 and 1990, and so incidents are separated by terrorist and non-terrorist incidents. Despite these attacks, El Al has not lost a passenger on any passenger flight since 1955.{{cite web|url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/dblist.php?sorteer=datekey_desc&kind=%&cat=%&page=1&field=Operatorkey&var=6283|title=ASN Aviation Safety Database - El Al Israel Airlines|access-date=23 August 2018}}

• On 23 July 1968, El Al Flight 426, operated by a Boeing 707-458C en route from London to Tel Aviv via Rome, registered 4X-ATA, was hijacked by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) shortly after take-off from Rome-Fiumicino airport and forcibly diverted to Algiers. The hijacking ended after 40 days and is considered to be the only successful hijacking involving an El Al jet.
• On 18 February 1969, El Al Flight 432, operated Boeing 720-058B, registered 4X-ABB, was attacked at Zurich Airport by members of the PFLP while taxiing for takeoff en route from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, via a Zurich intermediate stop. Seven people were wounded including the copilot who later died from his wounds. In a firefight involving security personnel aboard the aircraft, one hijacker was killed, while the others were arrested. The hijackers were later put on trial in Winterthur, Switzerland but were released following the Dawson's Field hijackings one year later.{{cite web | url=http://www.idéesuisse.ch/252.0.html?&no_cache=1&L=0&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1636&tx_ttnews%5Blist%5D=182%2C267%2C87%2C1636%2C509 | title=El Al hijack | access-date=2008-01-20 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729235258/http://www.xn--idesuisse-c4a.ch/252.0.html?&no_cache=1&L=0&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1636&tx_ttnews%5Blist%5D=182%2C267%2C87%2C1636%2C509 | archive-date=2013-07-29 | url-status=dead }}
• On 6 September 1970, El Al Flight 219 from Tel Aviv to New York, with a stopover in Amsterdam, operated by a Boeing 707-458C registered 4X-ATB, was the target of an attempted hijacking by Leila Khaled and Patrick Argüello, members of the Sandinistas working in concert with the PLFP after taking off from Amsterdam. The hijacking was meant to be one of the Dawson's Field hijackings, but it was thwarted by the pilots, cabin crew and the on-board air marshals. The aircraft diverted to Heathrow Airport, where Argüello and Khaled were turned over to British authorities; Argüello, who was shot earlier, died en route to a hospital.{{cite news|last1=Ginsburg|first1=Mitch|title=How to thwart a gunman at 29,000 feet, by the only pilot who ever did|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-to-defeat-airplane-terrorists-from-the-only-pilot-who-ever-foiled-a-skyjacking/|access-date=10 July 2015|newspaper=Times of Israel|date=24 March 2014}}
• On 16 August 1972, a bomb exploded in the luggage compartment of El Al Flight 444 shortly after takeoff from Rome. The plane returned to Rome safely and no casualties were recorded. The bomb had been hidden in the luggage of two British nationals who had the bombs placed there by Arab acquaintances.
• On 13 January 1975, several men, including Carlos the Jackal, made an unsuccessful attempt to destroy an El Al airliner parked at Paris Orly Airport. The men tried again on January 17, also without success.{{cite book|last=Ensalaco|first=Mark|title=Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2008|page=80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7KIa3VuD04C&q=johannes+weinrich+orly&pg=PA80 | isbn=978-0-8122-4046-7}}{{cite book |last1=Kushner |first1=Harvey W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mr51AwAAQBAJ&q=el+al+carlos+jan+1975&pg=PA322 |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |date=2003 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=0761924086 |location=London |page=322 |author-link=Harvey Kushner |access-date=5 October 2015}}
• On 27 December 1985, after several failed attempts to attack El Al aircraft, guerrillas of the Fatah Revolutionary Council attacked El Al and TWA ticket counters at Rome-Fiumicino and Vienna-Schwechat airports, killing 18 people.{{cite web | url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425822/113967 | title=A history of El Al incidents | access-date=2007-05-28 | publisher=One News}}
• A terrorist attack was foiled on 18 April 1986 in what became known as the Hindawi Affair. A pregnant Irishwoman named Anne-Marie Murphy was about to board an El Al flight at London's Heathrow airport when her bag was found to contain three pounds of plastic explosives. These had been planted by her fiancé Nezar Hindawi, who was booked on a different flight. Hindawi was jailed for 45 years, the longest sentence (short of a life sentence) ever delivered by a British court.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article493799.ece |title=El Al bomber too dangerous to release, court rules |newspaper=Times Online |date=2004-10-13 |last=Booth |first=Jenny |quote=His sentence of 45 years is believed to be the longest specific jail term ever imposed by an English court. |access-date=2007-05-23 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310232820/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article493799.ece |archive-date=March 10, 2007 }} There was evidence that Syrian officials were involved and as a result, Britain cut off diplomatic relations with Syria.{{cite news |author=Pipes |first=Daniel |date=Spring 1989 |title=Terrorism: The Syrian Connection |url=http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1064 |access-date=2007-05-07 |work=The National Interest}}
• On 4 July 2002, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet shot six Israeli passengers at El Al's ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport before he was shot and killed by an El Al security guard.{{cite news|title=Los Angeles airport shooting kills 3 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/07/04/la.airport.shooting/ |date=2002-07-05 |work=CNN |access-date=2007-05-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204221915/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/07/04/la.airport.shooting/ |archive-date=2004-12-04 }} Two of the victims died. Although not linked to any terrorist group, Hadayet, an Egyptian, espoused anti-Israeli views and was opposed to US policy in the Middle East.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/04/12/airport.shooting/ |title=FBI, Justice: El Al attack was terrorism |date=2003-04-12 |access-date=2007-04-29 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203145025/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/04/12/airport.shooting/ |archive-date=February 3, 2007 }} The US Federal Bureau of Investigation classified the shooting as a terrorist act, one of the few on US soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
• On 17 November 2002, El Al Flight 581, a flight operated by a Boeing 767-258(ER) from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, registered 4X-EBS, was the scene of an attempted hijacking by Tawfiq Fukra, a twenty-three-year-old Israeli Arab reportedly armed with a pocket knife. Fukra attempted to break into the cockpit in order to fly the aircraft back to Israel and crash it into a building. He was apprehended by on-board security personnel.{{cite news

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2486935.stm

|title=Passengers recall El Al 'hijack' terror

|access-date=2007-05-30

|date=2002-11-18

|work=BBC News World Edition

}}{{cite news

|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E0D61738F934A15752C1A9649C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fH%2fHijacking

|title=Man Denies Trying To Hijack El Al Plane

|access-date=2007-05-30

|last=Fisher

|first=Ian

|date=2002-11-27

|work=The New York Times

}}{{cite news

|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=633793

|title= El Al hijacker released to house arrest

|access-date=2007-05-30

|last=Ashkenazi

|first=Eli

|author2=Khoury, Jack

|date=2005-10-11

|newspaper=Haaretz

}}

• On 24 November 1951, a Douglas DC-4, registered 4X-ADN, on a cargo flight from Tel Aviv to Amsterdam via Zurich crashed on approach to Zürich, killing 6 crew members.{{cite web |title=ASN Aircraft accident description Douglas DC-4 4X-ADN — Zürich-Kloten |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/335726 |access-date=2007-05-29 |website=Aviation Safety Network |publisher=Flight Safety Foundation}}
• On 27 July 1955, a Lockheed Constellation operating El Al Flight 402, registered 4X-AKC, was shot down by two Bulgarian Air Force fighter jets over Blagoevgrad, near Sofia, Bulgaria, after it strayed into Bulgarian airspace in rough weather. All 58 passengers and crew were killed.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807400,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705102324/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807400,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 5, 2007|magazine=Time |date=1955-08-08|title=Through the Curtain|access-date=2007-05-23}}{{cite web |title=ASN Aircraft accident description Lockheed L-149 Constellation 4X-AKC — Petrich |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/334858 |access-date=2007-05-29 |website=Aviation Safety Network |publisher=Flight Safety Foundation}}{{cite news|first=Yossi |last=Melman |title=An investigation behind bars |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=886367 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=2007-10-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517191959/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=886367 |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}

• On 4 October 1992, El Al Flight 1862, a cargo flight from New York to Tel Aviv via Amsterdam, operated by a Boeing 747-258F cargo plane registered 4X-AXG, crashed into two highrise apartment buildings (Kruitberg and Groeneveen) in Bijlmermeer, a neighborhood of Amsterdam, shortly after takeoff and while attempting to return to Amsterdam. The crash was caused by structural failure of the fuse pins on the #3 engine, causing that engine to detach from the aircraft, knocking off the #4 engine with it, causing the aircraft to roll to the right. The three crew members, one passenger in a jump seat, and 39 people on the ground were killed.{{cite web | url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/325426 | title=Accident description El Al 1862 | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=Aviation Safety}}

File:El Al stewardess 4X-ACT.jpg in 1950]]

• Ephraim Ben-Artzi – commander of the Quartermasters Directorate, served as El Al CEO 1956–1967
• Mordechai Hod – commander of the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six-Day War, served as El Al CEO 1977–1979
• Eliezer Shkedi – former commander of the Israeli Air Force, served as El Al CEO 2010–2014

• Pinchas Ben-Porat – Palmach member, one of Israel's first aviators
• Eliezer Cohen – politician
• Giora Epstein – Israeli Air Force pilot, flying ace
• Yoav Kish – politician
• Abie Nathan – humanitarian and peace activist

• Gali Atari – singer and actress, winner of the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest
• Janna Gur – food writer, editor and cook book author
• Miki Haimovich – anchorwoman, television presenter
• Adir Miller – actor, screenwriter and comedian
• Sara Netanyahu – wife of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Alma Zack – actress

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• Transport in Israel

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