|
Established in 1949 as Israel's national airline, El Al's inaugural flight was actually made in September, 1948, when it flew Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann home from Geneva, Switzerland.
In June, 1961, El Al introduced the first non-stop New York / Tel Aviv flight on a Boeing 707, setting the world record for longest non-stop commercial flight covering 5,760 statute miles in 9 hours, 33 minutes. Using its airlines for humanitarian purposes, El Al broke another record in May, 1991. At that time, 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.
Today El Al flies to 48 destinations from Tel Aviv. El Al is particularly lauded for its well-developed security program, an issue that has come to the forefront since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Last updated: January 05, 2009.
© 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.
