El Al does not operate any flights until September 30th. The Israeli national airline was hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus crisis and its future is still uncertain. Nevertheless, a Boeing 737-900 was in the air for about 30 minutes last Thursday.
The short flight from Tel Aviv to Tel Aviv was a preparation for a historic task. The El Al aircraft with the registration 4X-EHD will perform the first official flight of an Israeli passenger aircraft to the United Arab Emirates on Monday (August 31). At 10 a.m. local time, it will take off for flight LY971 and fly to Abu Dhabi. The flight number is a reference to the international dialling code of the destination country. The return flight carries the code LY972 - the dialling code of Israel.
Flight via Saudi Arabia
In preparation for the historic flight, the Boeing 737-900 with the name of the city Kiryat Gat not only made a test flight. El Al also painted a message above the cockpit window. Peace is written there in English, Arabic and Hebrew. Official guests and delegations from Israel and the USA will be on board. The flight will be routed over Saudi Arabia.
A Boeing 737-900 of El Al is making history today
El Al's Boeing 737-900 with registration 4X-EHD.
For the flight to Abu Dhabi the aircraft got a special message painted above the cockpit windows: The word peace in Arabian, English and Hebrew.
The flight carries the flight number LY971.
