El Al says it’s flown 200,000 people since war erupted, details efforts to repatriate Israelis

Renee Ghert-Zand is the health reporter and a feature writer for The Times of Israel.

El Al airplanes on the tarmac at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, October 4, 2022. (Moshe Shai/ Flash90/ File)
El Al airplanes on the tarmac at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, October 4, 2022. (Moshe Shai/ Flash90/ File)

Israel’s national airline El Al reports that since the outbreak of the war on October 7, it has flown more than 1,400 flights carrying 200,000 passengers, over half of whom were headed to Israel.

It has added many extra flights to its schedule and last weekend, the airline flew hundreds of active-duty soldiers, reservists and security and medical personnel to Israel. The passengers flew free of charge, with all expenses covered by donations.

El Al has also flown in around 3,500 tons of supplies and equipment from around the world, seen as crucial to the war and relief efforts. Working in close coordination with various IDF units, El Al has directed more than 10,000 donated items to Israel’s troops, such as food, clothing, flashlights, blankets, sleeping bags and toiletries.

After the government warned Israelis not to fly to Turkey, El Al quickly arranged evacuation flights from Istanbul through its subsidiary airline Sun d’Or. El Al also gave preference to Israelis wanting to fly home from Athens after they got themselves out of Turkey independently. These passengers were charged only airport taxes.

El Al says it will continue to adapt to the evolving situation. It has created a webpage that updates automatically to show the availability of seats in real-time for upcoming dates.

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