Last week El Al confirmed that they will fly nonstop between Chicago and Tel Aviv. I’ve long said that the route seems tailor made for the smaller 787-8 that El Al will be receiving starting later this year. El Al is slated to receive a total of 4 of the 787-8s and 17 of the larger 787-9s.
And sure enough, El Al has now announced that the following routes will get the 787-8:
- Toronto, with 3 weekly flights starting 11/17/19.
- Boston, with 3 weekly flights starting 12/15/19.
- Paris, with 2 weekly flights starting 12/16/19 and a 3rd weekly flight starting 3/29/20.
- Chicago, with 3 weekly flights starting 3/22/20. Starting 3/29 El Al currently has a mix of 787-8 and 787-9 service planned, though it will likely be decided according to market demand.
- San Francisco, with 3 weekly flights starting 3/30/20.
- Mumbai, with 1 weekly flight starting 4/2/20
El Al’s 787-8 will have 20 business seats, 35 premium economy seats, and 183 economy seats, for a total of 238 seats. For the sake of comparison, United’s 787-8 has 36 business seats, 70 economy plus seats, and 113 economy seats, for a total of 219 seats in a more premium heavy configuration. American’s 787-8 has 28 business seats, 60 main cabin extra seats, and 138 economy seats, for a total of 226 seats.
El Al’s 787-9 has 32 business seats, 28 premium economy seats, and 222 economy seats, for a total of 282 seats.
Clearly, El Al’s premium economy is doing quite well as it grows from 9.9% of their 787-9 cabin to 14.7% of their 787-8 cabin. That comes at the expense of business class, which shrinks from 11.3% of the 787-9 cabin to just 8.4% of the 787-8 cabin.
That may make business class award tickets even harder to come by on 787-8 routes.
Speaking of which, don’t forget that Matmid points will be devalued on Monday, though you’ll still be able to use Qantas points for travel on El Al at a great value, especially when there’s a Citibank transfer bonus.
HT: Baglach via DDF, passportnews, and routesonline
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18 Comments On "El Al Announces Their First 787-8 Routes And Plane Configuration"
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So Miami still stuck on the older 777?
No, MIA-TLV is operated by the 787-9.
I think that UA are added their new premium economy to the 787 TLV route,
Yes, that’s on the 787-10
Which airline will buy Elals 747 Iran air?
Will the new economy have more space then Unitedās cattle class?
When is elal phasing out the 747?
Probably by 2999
great that elal is expanding. The problem is that Ben Gurion airport is ill-equipped to handle the current flow of people coming through. I traveled to Israel last Thursday and upon arrival at passport control, Friday morning, there was one person working at one booth for the hundreds of people with foreign passports trying to get through. I went to speak to the supervisor in that area and after asking him why there were so few people working he abnoxiously responded that when he comes to America he has to wait 3-4 hours to get through customs. Very nice way to treat people after a 10 hour flight trying to come into your country and spend their money.
He’s right.
Why does it take so long to get through US customs/immigration ? Speak to your congressperson
maybe they are trying to encourage jews to make aliya so they can cut the lines š
+1.
I also waited very long. Airport has to learn something about customer service.
At least have the all the booths manned.
they don’t have to have customer service. Only in america with impatient entitled people do they have to have customer service!
italian strike its all in purpose going for month However you should go to the left side and get out with the passport reading passport Its for both israel and foreign citizen
sorry for the ignorance, but what does the 7/8/9 after the 787 stand for?
Different sizes of the 787.
Actually, American is in the process of changing its 787-8’s configuration to 20 C, 28 W, 48 MCE and 138 Y for a total of 234.
do the seats recline on the last row of the 787-8 economy flights.