Israel’s flagship airline, El Al (plane pictured), is now operating direct flights from Boston to Tel Aviv. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – El Al Israel airlines inked a $1.25 billion deal with Boeing to add to its fleet 15 aircraft, among them Boeing’s new Dreamliner jets, in a ceremony at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday.

The Israeli airline is purchasing nine of Boeing’s state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner aircraft (with two of them leased) and will lease an additional six aircraft. The 787s will replace the Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 767s already in use.

El Al CEO David Maimon called the agreement “a major leap forward in the company’s evolution.” Boeing President and CEO Ray Conner praised El Al’s long 60-plus-year partnership with the American company, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.

“To say that [partnership] is something special is a bit of an understatement,” Conner said.