Review of El Al Israel Airlines flight Tel Aviv Larnaca in Economy

Flight LY2431
Class Economy
Seat 42A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 01:05
Take-off 28 Dec 19, 19:40
Arrival at 28 Dec 19, 20:45
LY 39 reviews
JAZ350
By 1403
Published on 13th April 2020

Welcome back to another travel series. Part 4 here shows highlights of my flight from Tel Aviv to Larnaca.



Having spent a couple days in Tel Aviv, I decided to take a short hop over to Cyprus. Flights between the two nations were around $100USD round trip and since I was close enough, I added it to my itinerary. 
I arrived about 4 hours early as it was the Sabbath but also to account for any extra security I may have encountered. 


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Security was tough as one would expect, but soon after everything ran smooth.


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This regional terminal contrasts to that of the larger one which I had arrived in. Most passengers tonight were all flying on Easyjet. Amenities are also limited in this terminal with only two options for food, the best being Mcdonalds. There wasn't much spotting that could have been done as all aircraft were parked at remote gates. 


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El Al operated our flight from a remote gate which required a bus. We took a 5 minute ride over to the maintenance area where our aircraft waited. 


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Our aircraft 4X-EKP.


Aircraft: Boeing 737-8Q8
Registration: 4X-EKP
Age: 18.7 years
Layout: C16 Y138


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Company 4X-EKC.


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El Al's brand new Boeing 788 was parked across the tarmac.


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To my surprise the cabin was pretty modern. The seats were comfortable however, the pitch was rather tight. Once everyone was on board, the overbearing blue mood lights illuminated the cabin for the duration of the flight. 


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Our taxi took about 15 minutes to the active.


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Flying over Jaffa and onto the Mediterranean.


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Though the flight was short, the crew made sure to hand out a bottle water and nuts.


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About 30 minutes in, descent began and Larnaca could be spotted and we made a left base for the active. 


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The airport seemed rather quiet as the only other aircraft was an Easyjet A320N.


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A320N preparing for departure back to the UK.


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LCA airport was rather quiet at this time so lines at customs were short.


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Once landslide, I got a local taxi to downtown Larnaca. 


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Our flight route, sourced from Flightradar24.


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Verdict

El Al Israel Airlines

8.2/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering8.0

Tel Aviv - TLV

7.2/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Larnaca - LCA

9.5/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

El Al was a pleasant experience. The flight was quite short but the crew were amazing. Its an airline I do intend to fly on in the future.

Related

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 551408 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.
    The price is not too bad for Israel, but then again there are so many flights from TLV to LCA that competion works well.
    LY is also an airline I'd like to try out.
  • Comment 551490 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    This is one of those times when you don't mind remote stand boarding so much...it made for some great night shots!

    TLV-LCA seems to be a really busy route as I've seen quite a few reviews on multiple carriers on this route. Although Tel Aviv already has some nice beaches, I guess Cyprus is a convenient hop for a quick beach getaway from TLV, especially with such competitive prices.

    To my surprise the cabin was pretty modern.

    Yeah those are pretty new cabins (they've squeezed in a few extra seats though, with the slimmer seats, hence the tighter pitch)

    Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 551616 by
      JAZ350 AUTHOR 80 Comments
      I agree, I try to take as many pictures as I can when I board remotely. The wide choices of carriers made it hard to decide which ones to book with but El Al and Aegean won as you can see.

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