 Hi folks, welcome back to my youtube channel, this is Daniel Rosal and this youtube channel covers things related to Jerusalem and Israel. When you hear Israeli airline, you probably think of Al Al, which is Israel's famous flag carrier and widely regarded as the most secure airline in the world. Al Al is indeed the largest and most famous of the various Israeli airlines. However, there are a few more Israeli air operators operating both domestic and international routes. In this video I wanted to share a little bit about those operators. Let's start however with Al Al, given that it is by far the largest Israel based operator. Like many national institutions in Israel, Al Al formally began operations shortly after the foundation of the state. The story goes something like this. Israel's first president, Chaim Weitzman, needed to get back to Israel, but only a military aircraft was available. Israel was under embargo at the time, so some creative thinking was required in order to convert a military plane into a civilian one. Al Al formally began operations on the 15th of November 1948, although it wasn't until the following February that it purchased its first aircraft, two impressed Uri's DC-4s which it bought from American Airlines. Today, Al Al operates an all Boeing fleet of 44 aircraft. By comparison, Delta operates more than 900 aircraft, so by international standards, Al Al is still a relatively small airline. The smallest member of the Al Al fleet is currently the Boeing 737. It operates both the 737-800 and the 737-900ER variants. Its largest aircraft is the 787 Dreamliner. In two variants, Al Al operates 15 Dreamliners on long-haul flights around the world. Al Al's list of destinations includes European destinations like Vienna, New York and Los Angeles and the US, and since more recently Casablanca in Morocco. While Al Al has to date only operated Boeing aircraft, the carrier included an Airbus in an RFP for a single-aisle aircraft which it intends purchasing by 2025. Of course, whether this inclusion in the tender signals a real intention to consider Airbus aircraft as part of its future fleet is unclear. While the other Israeli airlines now operate Airbus fleets, Al Al has struck rigidly with Boeing so far. Al Al has one subsidiary brand called Sundor. Sundor was an independent operator until 2011 but it's now wholly owned by Al Al. The smallest Israeli airline by fleet size is Arkea. Arkea has a fleet of five aircraft and flies to 25 destinations worldwide. Arkea was actually founded all the way back in 1949, just one year after Israel became a state. Its routes are in operating domestic connectivity within Israel, specifically flights connecting Tel Aviv with Elat in the south, which is a four to five-hour drive from some parts of the country. Arkea now operates international flights to predominantly short-haul destinations ex-Israel like Charmel Shaykh in Egypt, Athens, Lernik in Cyprus and Tivat in Montenegro. Domestically, it operates a regular service between Ben Gurion near Tel Aviv and Elat Ramon. Arkea previously operated an interesting fleet which included the ATR-72 turboprop, which was a common site at the now decommissioned state of airport near Tel Aviv, as well as Boeing 757s which attended to operate on medium-haul routes to Europe. Today, it has rationalized its fleet down to just two aircraft types, Airbus 321s of which it owns two, and Embraer 190 and 195s of which it owns three. Israel is now Israel's second biggest airline and operates a modest fleet of six aircraft. Like Arkea, it focuses mostly on domestic operations with flight between Ben Gurion, Elat, and Haifa Airport. Like Arkea, Israel also operates some charter destinations during the summer months. The colourful list of destinations that it serves during the busy peak summer months includes Prague, Rhodes, Batumi in Georgia, Malaga, and the idyllic Indian Ocean Island of Zanzibar, which has grown in popularity in recent years as the destination for Israelis. Israel has a fleet of six Airbus 320s and one Bombardier Dash 8. Like Arkea, Israel used to operate a more diverse fleet and its list of decommissioned aircraft also includes ATR turboprops as well as the Boeing 767. Finally, we have the Israeli airline that everybody forgets about. Cal is the name of a credit card assure in Israel, but is also the name of the country's only dedicated cargo operator. Cal is an abbreviation for Challenge Airlines IL and has its corporate headquarters in Shoham. Established in 1976, Cal made headlines a few years ago for purchasing an old Boeing 747 on Taobao.com, which is a Chinese e-commerce website. If you're wondering whether this is the equivalent of an airline purchasing an airplane from AliExpress, then it's a pretty good comparison. Specifically, the airline bought the last Boeing 747ERF on the market, and preparing to make the bid on the Chinese website took three months of dedicated work. Cal has previously floated the idea of operating passenger flights to the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority. If it did, it would of course become the fourth Israeli airline to operate civilian routes, although to date this hasn't taken place. Cal has a hub in Liege in Belgium and moves about 100,000 tons of cargo every year. For fellow aviation buffs and geeks, I hope that this video was interesting, thanks for watching it, and do consider liking and subscribing if you'd like to receive more video content about Israel.