El Al
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| El Al Israel Airlines | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA LY |
ICAO ELY |
Callsign ELAL |
| Founded | 1948 | |
| Hubs | Ben Gurion Int'l Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Matmid | |
| Member lounge | King David Lounge | |
| Fleet size | 29 + 2 on order + 4 cargo | |
| Destinations | 43 | |
| Company slogan | "הכי בבית בעולם" Literally: "The most at home in the world" Translated: "Home away from home" |
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| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel | |
| Key people | Haim Romano (CEO) Israel Borovich (Chairman) |
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| Website: http://www.elal.com/ | ||
El Al Israel Airlines (אל על, Hebrew: "To Above") is the largest Israeli airline. From their hub at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, El Al operates international scheduled passenger flights to Africa, Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East, as well as international cargo flights through their cargo branch, El Al Cargo. El Al has the reputation of being the most secure airline in the world.
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[edit] History
The airline was established on 15 November 1948 and started operations in August 1949 with a service from Tel Aviv to Rome and Paris, extended a year later to London. Non-stop Tel Aviv to New York services were introduced on 15 June 1961, when its Boeing 707 set the world record for the longest non-stop commercial flight covering 5,760 miles in 9 hours and 33 minutes. On 24 May 1991 an El Al Boeing 747 airlifted a record-breaking 1,087 passengers – Ethiopian Jews flying from Addis Ababa to Israel as part of Operation Solomon. In February 1995 El Al left the technical receivership it had been operating under since 1982.
The first phase of a long delayed privatisation was initiated in June 2003 when 15% of the airline's shares were listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Arkia Israel Airlines parent company, Knafaim-Arkia Holdings, acquired a large stake in mid-2004 and intends to take complete ownership. The owners are Knafaim-Arkia Holdings (40%), private investors (30%) and the state (30%). It employs 5,417 staff.
In late 2006, following a strike that temporarily shut down the airline at the end of November, El Al decided to fly some of their planes on Shabbat in order to get back on schedule. This led to a large-scale Haredi boycott of the airline. On 5 January 2007, a deal was signed between El Al and the Haredi community, which stated that El Al will not fly on Shabbat.[1]
In January 2007, El Al signed cooperation agreements with Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Airlines, and announced that they would schedule their flights to enable shorter waiting times for passengers on connecting flights. El Al also opened a new King David Lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport. New lounges at Heathrow Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport will open later this year.
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[edit] Destinations
- Further information: El Al destinations
[edit] Security
El Al has the reputation of being the most secure airline in the world for the following reasons:
[edit] On the plane
Approximately six undercover agents (formerly two; exact numbers are never given for security purposes) accompany each international El Al flight, sitting amongst passengers with hidden firearms. Most El Al pilots are former Israeli Air Force fighter pilots, and all El Al flight crew members are trained in hand-to-hand combat. In fact, most El Al employees have served in the Israel Defense Force (since national service is compulsory in Israel for most citizens).
El Al airliners have double doors to keep passengers away from the pilots. A code is necessary to access the doors, the second door will only be opened after the first has closed and the person has been identified by the captain or first officer.
There are reinforced steel floors separating the passenger cabin from the baggage hold.[2] This is intended to strengthen the plane in case of an explosion in the hold or vice versa.
The El Al fleet is also the only commercial airline fleet in the world to be equipped with anti-missile countermeasures (the radar-based Flight Guard system). Switzerland has refused El Al flights landing rights because of fears that flares dropped by such an automated system might cause fires on the ground near airports, and other European governments have expressed similar views.[3] El Al does not comment about the specifications of these systems.
[edit] On the ground
Passengers are asked to report three hours before takeoff. In Israel, they are checked at a security barrier on the road to the terminal. All El Al terminals around the world are closely monitored by security agents in plain clothes, who patrol the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats. Inside, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures also require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats with probing questions, such as their origin, goal and occupation. The likelihood of potential terrorists maintaining their calmness under such inquisitive probing is considered low. All passengers are classified on a basic three tier threat scale: Israelis and Jews are usually classified as the lowest threat, Westerners are usually classified as medium level threats, and Arabs (particularly males) are usually classified as high threat due to the overwhelming majority of attacks against Israeli targets having been carried out by Arab individuals in the past.
At the check-in counter, ground staff scrutinize the passport and the ticket. They will not accept a ticket without a sticker from the security checkers. Once through passport control, where the person's name is checked through a computer, which utilizes information from both the FBI and Scotland Yard terrorism databases, the person and their hand luggage go through rigorous screening, including hand searches. In addition, all luggage must pass through a decompression chamber; this simulates pressures during flight which may be triggers for explosives.[4] El Al is the only airline in the world that passes all luggage through such a chamber. Even in airports in the United States, El Al security agents conduct all luggage searches personally, though they are often supervised by government or private security firms who otherwise have screening responsibilities.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
Since 1968, El Al has never fallen victim to a successful terrorist attack on board any of its aircraft.
- On 27 July 1955 an El Al Lockheed Constellation plane was shot down over Bulgaria. All the crew and passengers were killed.
- On 23 July 1968, an El Al 707 carrying 10 crew and 38 passengers was the target of the first Arab hijacking of an El Al plane. Three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked the plane which was enroute from Rome, Italy, to Lod, Israel, and diverted it to Algiers. The negotiations extended over 40 days. Both the hijackers and the 21 Israeli hostages ultimately went free. This was the first and only successful hijacking of an El Al flight. The hijackers left from Beirut armed, with the full consent of the Lebanese authorities. Accordingly, Israel held Lebanon accountable, and retaliated on 28 December 1968 when it raided Lebanon's airport and destroyed 13 planes on the ground, most of which belonged to Middle East Airlines.
- Passengers and crew foiled a hijacking attempt on an El Al plane in 1970. This was part of the Dawson's Field hijackings.
- In the Hindawi Affair on 18 April 1986, a pregnant Irishwoman named Anne Mary Murphy was about to board an El Al flight at London's Heathrow Airport when her bag was found to contain 3 pounds of plastic explosives. The explosives had been planted by her fiancé Nezar Hindawi who was to go on a separate flight. Hindawi was jailed for 45 years, the longest sentence ever delivered by a British court. Murphy, who had been duped, later gave birth to their daughter. There was evidence that Syrian officials were involved. Britain cut off diplomatic relations with Syria.
- On 4 October 1992, El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747-200F cargo plane, crashed into the Groeneveen and Klein-Kluitberg flats in Bijlmermeer, a neighbourhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The three crew members and one passenger, and 43 on the ground were killed.
- On 4 July 2002, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet shot six Israelis at El Al's ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Two of the victims died. Although the gunman was not linked to any terrorist group, Hadayet, an Egyptian, espoused anti-Israeli views and was opposed to U.S. policy in the Middle East.[1] This led the FBI to classify the shooting as a terrorist act, one of the few on U.S. soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- On 23 October 2003, an El Al Boeing 767 flying from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles via Toronto was diverted to Mirabel International Airport and then on to Hamilton Airport, where RCMP tactical teams were ready. The diversion was the result of a "severe security threat," which was later clarified as a possible surface-to-air missile attack on the aircraft upon landing in Toronto.[5]
- On 7 June 2006, the Swiss Attorney General reported that seven North Africans were arrested in connection with a conspiracy to blow up an unspecified El Al flight the following day. At the time of the arrest, El Al's flights between Tel Aviv and London flew over the area where a ground-to-air missile was discovered.
[edit] Fleet
The all-Boeing El Al Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-700 | 2 | 104(16B/88Y) | 4X-EKD, 4X-EKE | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 6 | 142(16B/126Y) | 4X-EKA, 4X-EKB, 4X-EKC, 4X-EKI, 4X-EKO, 4X-EKP (EKO and EKP have winglets) |
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| Boeing 747-200 | 4 Cargo | Freighters | 4X-AXF, 4X-AXK, 4X-AXL, 4X-AXM Used for cargo only |
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| Boeing 747-400 | 4 | 408 (8F/52B/348Y) | 4X-ELA, 4X-ELB, 4X-ELC, 4X-ELD | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 4 | 178 (16B/162Y) | 4X-EBS, 4X-EBT, 4X-EBU, 4X-EBV (Three additional 757-200s are leased to other airlines: 4X-EBM is leased to Israir 4X-EBO and 4X-EBY are leased to Sun D'Or.) |
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| Boeing 767-200 | 2 | 4X-EAA, 4X-EAB | ||
| Boeing 767-200ER | 4 | 198 (24B/174Y) | 4X-EAC, 4X-EAD, 4X-EAE, 4X-EAF | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 3 | 234 (24B/210Y) | 4X-EAJ, 4X-EAP, 4X-EAR | |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 4 (2 on order) |
283 (6F/40B/237Y) | 4X-ECA, 4X-ECB, 4X-ECC, 4X-ECD (4X-ECE will be delivered in July 2007, 4X-ECF will be delivered in August 2007) |
[edit] King David Lounge
The King David Lounge is the airport lounge of El Al Israel Airlines, the Israeli national airline. There are five King David lounges at airports worldwide which serve El Al's premium class passengers. These are located at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, London Heathrow Airport, New York's JFK Airport, Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport, and the Los Angeles International Airport.
The King David Lounges all offer slightly different services to El Al passengers, however, they all offer basics such as drinks, snacks, newspapers (Israeli and International) and magazines. Some lounges also offer free Wi-Fi internet access. The King David Lounge in Ben Gurion Airport's Terminal 3 includes a special area for first class passengers, telephones, massage facilities, showers, and even a spa.
El Al has also signed agreements with other companies to provide services at the business lounges. Strauss-Elite will offer breakfasts, Tnuva is providing health food meals, and Arcaffe will offer coffee and baked goods.[6]
[edit] Partner Airlines
[edit] Codeshare Partners
El Al has the following codeshare partners, per their website, as of January 2007.
- Aerosvit Airlines flights to Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev, Odessa, and Simferopol
- Austrian Airlines flights to Vienna
- Brussels Airlines flights to Brussels
- Bulgaria Air flights to Sofia
- Cyprus Airways flights to Larnaca
- Delta Air Lines flights to Atlanta and New York
- Iberia Airlines flights to Barcelona and Madrid
- Lot Polish Airlines flights to Krakow, Warsaw
- South African Airways flights to Johannesburg
- Swiss International Air Lines flights to Zurich
- Tandem Aero flights to Kishinev
[edit] Frequent Flyer Agreements
Additionally, El Al has agreements with other airlines which allow Matmid frequent flyer points to be accumalated.
- Aeroméxico flights from Madrid, Miami, New York, and Paris, to Mexico City
- American Airlines most flights as well as American Eagle flights
- Delta Air Lines most flights
- South African Airlines most flights
- Sun D'Or all flights
- Qantas most flights
[edit] References
- ^ El Al, ultra-Orthodox sign deal to end dispute over Shabbat flights. Haaretz. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
- ^ Flying under the eagle eyes of El Al's famed high security. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved on August 15, 2006.
- ^ Europe objects to El Al's anti-missile shield. YNet News. Retrieved on November 12, 2006.
- ^ El Al Decompression Chamber. Simcoe Engineering Group Limited. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
- ^ Israeli Flight Lands in Toronto. CBC News. Retrieved on November 12, 2006.
- ^ El Al signs cooperation agreements with 3 European carriers. Globes. Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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| Scheduled and Charter Passenger | Arkia Israel Airlines | El Al | Israir | Sun D'Or | Tamir Airways | |
| Cargo | CAL Cargo Air Lines | El Al Cargo | |
| edit this box | ||
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