El Al made Sunday between Rome and Tel Aviv its last commercial flight in Boeing 747-400, 48 years after the first.

The LY1747 flight of 3 November 2019 between Rome-Fiumicino airport and its base at Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion was the last of a Jumbo Jet of the Israeli national carrier, 48 years after they entered service in its fleet: the 747-400 registered 4X-ELC took the opportunity to « draw » in the sky in southern Cyprus a silhouette of quad-reactors, at the price of a delay of nearly two hours for passengers – and an anger of defenders of the environment denouncing unnecessary CO2 emissions. The aircraft in question was delivered in May 1995 to El Al, which had put into service in 1971 its first 747 (a 747-200) operated 41 in total.

Now without 747 or 767 (the last retired in 2018), the long-haul fleet of El Al continues to modernize: since August 2017, it put into service the twelve 787-9 Dreamliner ordered, four 787- 8 to follow from this month. It also operates six 777-200ER with an average age of over 16 years.









Unusual side, we note that the Israeli company set an absolute record in one of its 747F in 1991, that of the number of passengers transported during a flight: 1087 (it was during the Solomon operation of repatriation of the Jews of Ethiopia).







