ARIE EGOZI/TEL AVIV
El Al expects to receive final offers from Airbus and Boeing soon on their “gap filling” proposals that will allow the Israeli airline to introduce a new medium capacity aircraft in the interim until the A350 and 787 are available.
El Al, which operates six 767-200/200ERs and one -300ER, wants to replace the fleet with a new-generation, mid-sized long-haul aircraft. In its latest effort to break Boeing’s monopoly in Israel, Airbus is offering the A330 as an interim solution until the A350 can be delivered early in the next decade.
Meanwhile, Boeing has been asked to devise a plan to enable El Al to upgrade the passenger cabins of its 767s to allow an extension of their lives until the 787 could be delivered.
MARTIN BOSCHHUIZEN/AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM
“We are evaluating the different offers in detail,” says El Al president Haim Romano. “The decision will have to be made soon.”
Both manufacturers have already pledged to assist the Israeli airline in an attempt to be selected. Airbus is ready to invest in the infrastructure that El Al will need to introduce the A330 into its fleet, while Boeing is evaluating a 767 upgrade programme that will cost around $1 million per aircraft.
Source: Flight International
