Aviation History
Israeli civil aviation began almost simultaneously with the state's founding in 1948, when El Al Israel Airlines was established and flew its first flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv carrying President Chaim Weizmann. Lod Airport, later renamed Ben Gurion Airport in 1973, became the country's principal international gateway. Owing to regional conflict, Israeli aviation developed some of the world's most stringent security protocols after a series of hijackings and attacks from the late 1960s through the 1980s, including the 1968 hijacking of El Al Flight 426 and the 1976 Entebbe hostage crisis, in which Israeli commandos rescued passengers (many Israeli) from a hijacked Air France flight. El Al later carried out large humanitarian airlifts, notably Operation Solomon in 1991. From late 2023 onward, the Gaza war and related regional escalation — including Houthi missile attacks from Yemen and direct Iran-Israel missile exchanges in 2025 — repeatedly disrupted operations at Ben Gurion Airport, prompting many foreign carriers to suspend or limit Israel service for extended periods even as El Al expanded its market share domestically.
El Al Israel Airlines was founded and made its first flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv, carrying President Chaim Weizmann.
El Al inaugurated regular scheduled service between Tel Aviv and Paris via Rome, its first international route.
A Boeing 707 was hijacked to Algiers by PFLP militants, the only successful hijacking in El Al's history.
Israel's main international airport at Lod was renamed Ben Gurion Airport after the country's first prime minister.
Israeli commandos raided Entebbe, Uganda, to free hostages from a hijacked Air France flight, many of them Israeli or Jewish, reinforcing Israel's aviation security doctrine.
El Al airlifted roughly 14,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in about 36 hours, including a single Boeing 747 flight carrying over 1,000 passengers.
An aviation liberalisation agreement with the European Union increased competition and route options on Israel-Europe flights.
The Gaza war and related regional escalation, including Houthi missile strikes from Yemen and direct Iran-Israel exchanges, led to repeated temporary closures of Ben Gurion Airport and extended flight suspensions by many foreign carriers into 2025.
El Al · Arkia · Israir · Up (former El Al low-cost brand)
Compiled from general public/encyclopedic sources; Israel's aviation situation from 2024 onward is an active, evolving security and conflict situation (Gaza war, Houthi attacks, Iran-Israel exchanges), and details on airline suspensions or airport status should be treated as time-sensitive and possibly outdated.