El Al Israel Airlines (LY, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion) is in negotiations to buy short-haul aircraft from Boeing or Airbus, Reuters reported. Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia, chief executive of El Al, said the company will make a decision this year.
“There are a lot of issues with the supply chain, and the fact that we are in a war delayed a little bit our discussions, mainly because they were not eager to come to Israel,” she added.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that El Al’s fleet comprises 44 in-house aircraft with an average age of 15.6 years. It has fifteen B737-800s, one B737-800(BCF), eight B737-900ERs, four B777-200ERs, four B787-8s, and twelve B787-9s. It also wet-leases one A300-600R(F) from SM Executive Aviation. The Tel Aviv Ben Gurion-based carrier leases 24 aircraft from nine leasing companies: AerCap, Aero Capital Solutions, Air Lease Corporation, Aviation Capital Group, BBAM, Carlyle Aviation Partners, Genesis Aircraft Services, Macquarie AirFinance, and ORIX Aviation.
Should El Al select Airbus, it would be its first-ever non–Boeing order. The company aims to operate a narrowbody fleet of between 28 and 31 airframes in 2021.
ch-aviation has reached out to El Al for comment as to whether if the airline is looking to place a direct order with either Airbus or Boeing or if it is planning to lease the new airframes.
