Related: El Al Takes One Step Closer To SkyTeam With Air France Codeshare Agreement; News On Mileage Reciprocity, Delta Lounge Access, SkyTeam, ANA, Alaska, JetBlue, And More
El Al recorded record profits in Q4 as other airlines handed El Al a near-monopoly on Israel flights after October 7th. That will be challenged as more airlines return to Tel Aviv.
But El Al is reinvesting to continue growing.
It currently has 24 737s, 6 777s, and 16 Dreamliners, consisting of 4 787-8s, and 12 larger 787-9s.
This summer, the airline will take delivery of a brand new 787-9, the airline’s 17th Dreamliner. It was able to land the new plane quickly as it was intended for Air China, but is being rerouted to El Al. Maybe they got a DansDeal on it. 😀
Unfortunately, that plane features a dated 2-2-2 configuration in business class and only features 30 business class seats instead of the 32 on El Al’s Dreamliners. There is no premium economy section, instead there are 34 economy seats with extra legroom in a 3-3-3 configuration and 229 economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. That’s a total of 293 seats versus the 282 seats on El Al’s other 787-9s.
El Al hasn’t made any decisions about which routes the Air China configured 787 will fly, or whether it will be reconfigured, but I’d have to imagine the airline will want to do that so that they have one common seat configuration for the 787-9s, which would allow it to be used and swapped in on any route. But you may want to watch your seat maps to see if it will be operated with a 2-2-2 business class instead of 1-2-1.
El Al’s 18th Dreamliner is expected in 2025 and the 19th Dreamliner in 2026, both of which will be 787-9s and will have the airline’s normal Dreamliner seating.
Today, the airline announced it ordered 3 more 787-9s, which it expects to receive in 2029 and 2030, which will increase the Dreamliner fleet to 22. The 3 planes will cost between $650-$750 million.
The airline also announced that it now has options to purchase 6 more 787-9s, for a potential fleet of 28 Dreamliners.
The airline also expects to order up to 30 narrowbody aircraft in the coming months and is negotiating with Airbus and Boeing for that order.
What is your preferred airline for flying to Israel?
HT: tavster and chff