Israel’s flagship airline buys 20 Boeing 737 MAX jets for 1.5 bln USD

JERUSALEM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — Israel’s national airline El Al has signed an agreement with the U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing Company to purchase 20 737 MAX aircraft for 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
A statement issued by El Al on Thursday said that this is by far the largest equipping deal for the airline.
The agreement also includes an option to purchase 11 additional aircraft of the model for up to one billion dollars more.
The new aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to the airline starting in 2028 and will replace the airline’s current fleet of narrow-body Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 models.
Also on Thursday, El Al reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, with record revenue of 839 million dollars, breaking the previous all-time highest quarterly figure registered in the previous quarter. ■