It is coming up to two years since Israeli flag carrier El Al retired the last of its passenger Boeing 747 aircraft. This brought an end to nearly half a century of 747 operations across all variants at the airline. But which models exactly did El Al fly? Let's take a look.

The 747-100

Data from ATDB.aero shows that El Al has operated a total of 33 Boeing 747 series aircraft over the years. These have come from a range of variants from the US manufacturing juggernaut's famous 'jumbo jet' family. Of El Al's 33 747s, eight belonged to the original 747-100 version. However, interestingly, these were not the first it received.

Seven of El Al's 747-100s were freighters, which joined the airline between 1977 and 1992. 4X-AXZ spent the rest of its career (1977-1999) at El Al before being scrapped in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, the other six were only with El Al on short-term leases. Its eight and final 747-100 was a passenger-carrying version which it briefly leased from TWA in 1988.

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El Al Boeing 747-100F
El Al only operated one 747-100F on a long-term basis Photo: Dean Morley via Flickr

The 747-200

Moving on to the 747-200, this was the first variant that El Al operated (in 1971), despite it not being the first to enter service in general. The Israeli flag carrier operated 12 examples of this variant in total, consisting of four different sub-variants. These were:

  • 747-200B - Four examples of the standard passenger version, 1971-2004.
  • 747-200B (SCD) - Two examples with a Side Cargo Door, 1979-2009.
  • 747-200C - Two examples of the convertible (pax/cargo) version, 1975-2008.
  • 747-200F (SCD) - Four freight-configured examples with a Side Cargo Door, 1979-2010.

Two El Al 747-200s were involved in notable events. 4X-AXD set a capacity record when it airlifted more than 1,000 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv as part of 'Operation Solomon' in 1991. Meanwhile, a freighter registered as 4X-AXG crashed in Amsterdam in 1992, tragically killing its four crew members and 39 people on the ground.

El Al Boeing 747-200
An El Al 747-200 set a capacity record as part of Operation Solomon. Photo: Aero Icarus via Flickr

A single 747-300

The Boeing 747-300 did not enjoy the same level of popularity as the family's other variants. However, El Al still managed to find the time to briefly operate one from August to November 2000. Registered as TF-ATH, Planespotters.net reports that this aircraft served the Israeli flag carrier on a short-term lease from Air Atlanta Icelandic.

The 747-400

The final variant of the Boeing 747 family that El Al has operated is the popular -400 series. The airline has done so with both the passenger and freight-carrying versions of the US planemaker's iconic double-decker aircraft. In total, El Al has flown nine standard 747-400s, and three cargo-configured 747-400Fs. The first arrived in 1994.

El Al ceased passenger-carrying operations with the 747-400 in 2019. The type's last flight (from Rome to Tel Aviv) commemorated its history with the airline by 'drawing' a 747 in the sky with its flight path. As for the freighters, ATDB.aero suggests that one example is still flying for the Israeli flag carrier, registered as N487MC on a wet lease deal from Atlas Air.

How many of El Al's 747 variants did you fly on? Did you have a particular favorite? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!