El Al Will Fly Between Tel Aviv and Las Vegas
Over the last few years Israeli airline El Al has been on a campaign to update its fleet and expand its route network. It's steadily built out its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners while retiring older Boeing wide-bodies like the 747 and 767.
Now, to add to its four US routes, El Al will begin flying from Tel Aviv (TLV) to Las Vegas (LAS) on June 14, 2019.
Currently the airline flies to New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX) and will launch flights to San Francisco (SFO) in May 2019.
The new route will run once a week and will be operated by one of the airline's new Dreamliners, reports Globes. El Al has taken delivery of seven 787-9s, it has another nine on order including the smaller -8 model. The flight schedule is as follows:
- Fridays: Tel Aviv (TLV) 7:00am Departure → Las Vegas (LAS) 11:15am Arrival
- Saturdays: Las Vegas (LAS) 11:45pm Departure → Tel Aviv (TLV) 10:15pm (+1) Arrival
TPG's Emily McNutt reviewed El Al's 787-9 on the Newark - Tel Aviv route and gave the product solid marks — noting that it was a huge improvement over its older planes.
The aircraft features 28 premium economy seats in a 2-3-2 layout.
The economy cabin fits 222 people in a 3-3-3 configuration.
It's a bit unclear as to why the airline decided to launch the route, but Globes reports that the Israeli government is providing a €250,000 subsidy for the route. Israeli Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin said that Israel is seeing a "rising trend of Christian tourists from Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Oregon," reports CTech, which seems a bit antithetical to Las Vegas' moniker: Sin City.
Although tickets are reportedly are on sale, I wasn't able to find any on El Al's website or Google Flights. Additionally, you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards to El Al's Matmid rewards, although redemption rates are pretty terrible through the program.
H/T: One Mile At A Time
All images by Emily McNutt / The Points Guy.
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