El Al was established by the Israeli government in November 1948 .[1] Initially offering a weekly service between Tel Aviv and Paris in 1949,[2] the airline began flying to many European destinations the same year, with services to the United States and South Africa starting in 1951.[1] Following delivery of their first Boeing 707–420 in May 1961 ,[3] the carrier started flying scheduled New York City–Tel Aviv flights—the longest non-stop route flown by any airline at the time.[4]
El Al flies to 51 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Following is a list of airports served by the carrier as part of its scheduled services.[5]
On 30 January 2020, El Al suspended flights to Beijing because of the outbreak of COVID-19.[6]
In March 2020 the airline saw reduced demand and cancelled flights to Europe. El Al proposed in early March 2020 to lay off 1 in 6 of its 6,200 employees. Israel has discontinued the entry from some nations of all non-Israelis and mandated that Israelis who return from said nations put themselves into a self-imposed two week quarantine.[7]
Due to the special circumstances caused by the coronavirus outbreak, and the recommendations by the Ministry of Health (of Israel) to the public, we are compelled to make commercial adjustments to certain flights, although as part of this we are providing alternative options on other flights. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.
— El Al, 2 March 2020
On 11 March, El Al suspended 8 in 10 employees, and drastically reduced operations. The remaining employees, who include all pilots, will be paid 20% less.[8]