Transportation Minister Israel Katz said the deal was cause for celebration and symbolized the country’s perseverance through difficult times.
By NIV ELISUpdated: OCTOBER 31, 2015 18:45Boeing 787 Dreamliner(photo credit: BOEING)
El Al on Thursday inked a deal to add 15 new aircraft from Boeing, including its 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners, in a deal valued at $1.25 billion.“I’m proud to complete today an acquisition in the framework of the largest equipping program in El Al’s history,” El Al CEO David Maimon said at the deal-signing ceremony at Ben-Gurion Airport.The deal will see El Al acquire nine new Dreamliner aircrafts (two of them leased) and lease an additional six already in use. The Dreamliners will replace Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 767 planes in use.Transportation Minister Israel Katz said the deal was cause for celebration and symbolized the country’s perseverance through difficult times.“We are at an event that symbolizes the most normal thing, while in the heart of the storm, both literally and figuratively,” he said, referring to both the wave of terrorist attacks and the rainy weather.Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner, in Israel for the signing, said the deal represented a continuation of El Al’s long history with the American plane manufacturer, which has continued for a half-century.