El Al
Operator Identification
15 November 1948 to present
Israel
TYPE: Airline
IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil
HEADQUARTERS: Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, Israel
FORMER NAME: Nil
SUBSEQUENT NAME: Nil
Operator History
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 Air Force Douglas C-54 military transport was instead disguised as a civilian airplane to transport Weizmann home. The aircraft was painted with the titles of a then-phony "El Al / Israel National Aviation Company" and fitted with extra fuel tanks to enable a non-stop flight from Geneva to Israel. After the flight, the aircraft was repainted and returned to military use.
Soon thereafter, on 15 November 1948, El Al was incorporated and became Israel's national flag carrieral. It initially 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. The first international flight, from Tel Aviv to Paris with a refueling in Rome, took place on 31 July 1949. By the end of 1949, the airline had flown passengers to London and Johannesburg. A scheduled 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. A state-run domestic airline, Arkia Inland Airlines, was founded in late 1949 with a 50% El Al stake.
El Al's cargo service was inaugurated in 1950 and initially relied on IAF surplus Commandos. The same aircraft type was used also for passengers transportation on some domestic routes. The same year the airline initiated charter services to the United States, followed by scheduled flights soon afterwards.
In 1950–1951 El Al expanded its activities in Europe and added new destinations such as Vienna, Istanbul, Athens and Nicosia. In the early 1950s, El Al airlifted over 160,000 immigrants to Israel from India, Iran, Iraq and Yemen as part of Operation Magic Carpet and Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. In 1955, after using Lockheed Constellations for several years, the airline purchased two Bristol Britannias, entering the turbine age.
Commando Operations
January 1950 to February 1956
On 24 January 1950, a month before Arkia’s inaugural flight, El Al acquired 2 Commandos (4X-ACE and -ACF) from the Israeli Air Force. Both had seen service during the 1948 War of Independence following their arrival from the US and Panama via Al Schwimmer’s Panamanian "airline", LAPSA.
El Al used the Commando to launch a freight operation on 26 January 1950 between Israel and several European cities. With foresight, it recognized the potential value of air cargo, as well as the importance of air transport to the future of Israeli exports of flowers, fresh produce, and other goods. In April 1951, El Al established one of the few scheduled cargo runs to London, with intermediate stops made as required. By 1955 the usual route to London was via Athens, Rome, Düsseldorf and Amsterdam, with the return to Tel Aviv via Brussels, Rome and Athens. Schedules were arranged to permit other ports of call. Another regular freight service was established to Paris.
Between 1950 and 1955, El Al operated seven ex-Israeli Air Force Commandos, but not all at the same time. Besides carrying freight, some of them were used in passenger service, usually fitted with 38 seats, and they supplemented the DC-4s (and later the Lockheed Constellations) on shorter or less-traveled routes. In the mid-1950's, as Britannias replaced the Contellations on long-haul flights, the latter replaced the Commandos.
Last edited: 05/08/2021