Review of El Al Israel Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to London in Economy

Hi, dear flight-report members and readers! 

This FR covers a flight on the Israeli flag carrier El Al on one of LY's flagship routes - TLV-LHR - operated by B789 back in September 2023. I decided to spend a short weekend in London and wanted to try again a BA A35K (the first time I flew it was in July 2023 on my way back from Ireland on LHR-TLV flight) on the way there, but at the last moment BA sent the aircraft, that was assigned to LHR-TLV-LHR BA167/166 rotation on 7-8 September, to HKG and cancelled my flight. While I was trying to figure out what to to and almost decided to cancel the trip, BA sent me e-mail with the new ticket - without asking me they rebooked me on the LY TLV-LHR flight, departing 3 hours later than the cancelled BA flight! I got nothing but to accept this. At least the departure time gave me possibility to sleep at home, instead of spending the night in TLV. 

By the moment I was rebooked, online check-in was long open, but thankfully there was a vacant window seat in the very back of the plane and I chose it. 

As a full-service carrier, LY operates from the main terminal of TVL - T3.

Planespotting From T3 TLV

As this FR is quite planespotting- and airview-loaded, I have to omit the theme of TLV T3 (I will cover T3 later in details in one of the next FRs) due to the limitation of 150 photos per FR. Morning planespotting from T3 turned to be quite interesting.

Azimuth SU95 (RA-89189). All the currently active SU95s are RA-registered from the very beginning, so they're not "stolen planes". But one can guess I have very mixed feeling seeing the aircrafts from my ex-homeland.

LY B77E (4X-ECC), undergoing some maintenance. Back then LY was reconfiguring its B77Es, and part of them still was with the old spacious 3-3-3 economy. Now all the 5 frames are reconfigured into 3-class C28_W32_Y253 layout with 3-4-3 economy. LY is one of the world's last operators of RR-powered B77Es; though, its fleet is small compared to RR-B77E fleets of AA and BA.

LY's first B788 (4X-ERA). LY is world's only airline that initially was receiving B789 and then - B788s. It's hard to guess why LY decided to order 4 smaller B788s instead of 4 more B789s.

B738 (TC-TJU) of Corendon. The amount of daily flight between Turkiye and Israel before October 7 was incredible.

B738 of AJet in the old livery.

A3 IAE-powered A320.

The Aircraft

My flight from Tel Aviv to Heathrow was operated by 2019-built B789 (4X-EDJ) named "Kfar Saba". All the LY B789s have 3-class C32_W35_Y204 layout.

Boarding

Boarding was from gate D9. It's interesting that the flight was codeshared with AA (Oneworld member) and AM (Skyteam member). As I already had flown on LY earlier in April 2023 on DXB-TLV and had a crazy LY security screening in DXB, I was expecting the same this time, but no - if you're flying FROM Israel, there's no difference with foreing airlines in terms of security. 

The Business Class Cabin

A general view of the business class cabin, located between 1L/R and 2L/R doors and consisting of 32 Recaro CL6710 seats in 1-2-1 layout. I will show more details further.

The Premium Economy Cabin

The premium economy cabin, located after 2L/R doors, consists of 35 Recaro PL3510 recliners in 2-3-2 layout. Premium economy is the place where Dreamliners always have an edge over A350s, as B787 cabin width doesn't allow 2-4-2 layout in W, whereas A350 cabin does (only a handful A350 operators have 2-3-2 W). As one can see, pillows, blankets and a bottle of water were included.

The Economy Cabin

The economy class consists of 204 seats in 3-3-3 layout, distributed between 2 cabins: the front smaller one, located between the premium economy and 3L/R doors, and the the larger rear one, located between 3L/R and 4L/R doors.

A couple of photos of the front economy cabin.

The Economy Seat

My seat was 47K in the penultimate row of the rear economy cabin. I had no choice - it was the only available window seat. One has to be aware that the preceding row 46 is missing the windows (such rows are common in all Dreamliners). The seat model is infamous Recaro CL3710. Though, there is some "lipstick on a pig", as LY installed elastic padding, marginally improving (the almost absent) seat comfort. Sadly, the seatwidth is abysmal - just 16.7". Even though my row is located in the very rear, where the fuselage tapering may in theory affect the seatwidth, I suspect that the all the economy seats have this 16.7" width, because it's Recaro's standard width for the laterally densified cabins (for example, CL3710s in KL B77E I flew on GYE-AMS back in 2020 also have 16.7" width). The seat has fabric upholstery, adjustable headrest with "leather" antimacassar, IFE with large screen (much nicer than BA's and KL's standard smallish screens in CL3710s), hard upper literature compartment, USB and headset ports, bi-fold tray table, lower soft seatpocket and underseat universal power port. The legroom was good for the flight of this length. The seatbelt buckle has LY logo, but it was scratched. All the amenities consisted of headset of a good quality. 

The content of the seatpockets: safety card, inflight "Atmosphere" magazine with the LY fleet and LY network pages, duty-free magazine (shown on the photos of the seat) and charity envelope.

One of the interesting features of IFE: displaying times (zmanim) of prayers for the orthodox Jews (datim in Hebrew).

The Flight

As I was sitting in the very rear, I witnessed the loading of LD3 containers of cargo. On the adjacent gate is fellow B789 (4X-EDL).

Pushback begins and a very creative safety video, featuring mentalist Lior Suchard, is played.

During pushback and taxi interesting and diverse planespotting in TLV continues.

PC A20N (TC-NCD).

EK B77W (A6-EPL), which back then had 3-class F8_C42_Y310 layout. In 2025 it was reconfigured into 4-class F8_C40_W24_Y260 layout. Before October 7 EK was the only airline, serving TLV with first class. Though, after October 7 only FZ with its narrowbody fleet continues to serve DXB-TLV flights. Now the only airline serving TLV with first class is AF, operating its CDG-TLV flights with 4-class B77W with the new La Premiere F.

UA B78X. If I remember correctly, UA operated ORD-TLV flights with B78Xs. Before October 7 TLV was seeing a lot of US flights, operated by US3.

LO B738.

Tus Airways A320 (5B-DDN).

MS A20N (SU-GFM). Flights between Egypt and Israel went into history from October 7.

Arkia A21N (4X-AGK). 

Another SU95 (RA-89136) of Azimuth.

The graveyard of retired LY widebodies: 2 B744s (4X-ELC and -ELD) and B77E (4X-ECA).

One more retired LY B744 (4X-ELH) in the distance.

Climbing out from TLV over southern Tel Aviv with the downtown and coastline in sight.

The flight map and some examples of the IFE content (including the advertisement of LY loyalty cards).

Overflying Oludeniz and Fethiye - one of the most famous parts of Turkish riviera.

Meanwhile the breakfast is served: omelette, vegs, yoghurts and granola. For the drinking I chose coffee. Not very abundant meal, to speak mildly.

And yes - the meals LY serves are Kosher ones.

Thasos island in Greece.

Nea Peramos and Kavala.

Mount Falakro and its marble quarries. To the right is Petroussa town.

Pirin mountains near Tevno, Popovo and Kremenski lakes.

Rila mountains under the stunning feather-like clouds. I was on Rila lakes almost a year before in my first vacation from Israel.

Cruising over Balkans at FL400.

Drina river (tributary of Sava) near Jelav.

Sava river, dividing Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Brcko.

Then the crew locked the window in 1/3-tinted mode (thankfully, not in the blackout mode as most 787 crews usually do!). Dreamliner's windows are perfect for airsight-seeing when they are transparent, but it's hard not to hate the centralized locking mode.

Overflying Austria. Views of Southern Carinthia near Klagenfurt.

Overflying the Alps.

Nördliche Kalkalpen (North Dolomite Alps) are beautiful even through tinted windows!

Munich and Isar river.

Munich airport (MUC) - one of the primary hubs of Lufthansa Group. It's Terminal 2 is considered one of the best in EU.

An inflight cabin view.

Mannheim and Ludwigshafen on Rhine river.

Rhine near Worms and Gernsheim.

Frankfurn am Main and its airport (FRA) - the main hub of Lufthansa Group.

The confluence of Main and Rhine.

Meandres of Moselle river near Zell.

The crew served snacks and drinks, which were nice as the breakfast was not that filling.

Liege and Meuse river. One can also see Ourthe river, joining Meuse in Liege, and Albertkanaal between Liege and Maastricht.

Leuven (I was there in 2017).

Mechelen (I also was there in 2017).

Having almost crossed the continental Europe. Approaching the famous Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta, where these mighty rivers drain into the Nord Sea.

Antwerp, Scheldt river and its harbours.

Leaving the continent over Scheldt delta near Vlissingen.

Wind generators field in the shallows of the Northen Sea and a maintenance vessel.

The UK in sight. East Mersea and Colne mouth.

West Mersea and Blackwater Estuary.

Heybridge and Chelmer river (forming Blackwater Estuary further).

Due to heavy traffic in LHR we were put into holding pattern (single orbit) near Greenwich meridiane. A view of The O2 and Thames' meandre near Greenwich.

Manuvering under the sky, lined up with contrails.

As I was sitting on the right side, our approach to LHR gave the possibility to see some stunning views of London city centre. Though, they were slightly damped by the haze.

The Tower and its famous bridge with a barge passing under.

St. Paul cathedral from the best angle of view.

Westminster, London Eye and Waterloo train station.

The trajectory of our descent and approach to LHR.

The Great Pagoda in Royal Botanic Gardens.

Royal Botanic Garden, Brentford and Gunnersbury park.

Landing on the southern runway 09R/27L of LHR.

BA B77W (G-STBK) and a number of BA Dreamliners.

BA A380, BA B77E in Oneworld livery, EI A320 and firefighting trainer MD11.

The famous Concorde (G-BOAB, which is turning 50 years on 18 May 2026) near BA MRO hangars, and a BA A35K. 

2 UA Dreamliners and an UA B77E near T2B (the satellite of the "Queen's Terminal" T2).

EK A380 near T3.

BA A380, being towed past T3.

VS A339 and A35K, DL A339 and a BA widebody tail (probably A35K, as BA serves from T3 some its long-hauls like GRU) near T3 and the famous ATC tower of LHR.

QF A380 (from SYD via SIN), VS A35K, BA B78X and AY A321 on the remote stands between T3 and T5C.

Another BA A380, taxiing past T5A, and a BA B77W near T5B.

One Air 1991-built B744BCF (G-ONET) near IAG Cargo terminal. From July 2025 it's stored in CGK. In September 2025, when I flew UKK-KGF on now-50-years-old Antonov-24, I saw in KGF HC's newest addition to the fleet - 2025-built B77F (G-ONEG), the newest B777 I've ever seen. Later in 2025 HC received one more shining new B77F (G-ONEH).

Bombardier Global 6000 (9H-VJO) of Vistajet Malta.

QR A380 near T4. All the QR's whalejets are GP-powered.

EY A380 (A6-API) near T4. All the EY whalejets are also GP-powered.

One of the most exotic visitors to LHR - Royal Brunei B788 (V8-DLA) - near T4, where we also arrive. Usually BI flies from BWN to LHR via DXB, but during the Iran war in 2026 they were flying BWN-LHR nonstop.

A view of T2 main building (A) with SK A20N, TP A21N and EI A320. To the left is a BA B78X.

The Economy Cabin After The Flight

Views of the rear (photo 1) and the front (photos 2-4) economy cabins upon disembarkment. Even though LY uses the same subpar Recaro CL3710 seats as BA in A35K, LY's cabin is aesthetically more pleasant, the IFE is definitely better, and the seat padding is a bit more tolerable for a 5-hours flight. 

The Premium Economy Cabin After The Flight

A couple of views of the premium economy cabin, complementing the photos made during boarding. Even though the seat model (Recaro PL3510) is the same as in BA A35K's premium economy, LY's W cabin is also looks more pleasant.

The Business Class Cabin After The Flight

The crew thankfully permitted me to visit the business class cabin. The LY crew are really nice and welcoming, and really stand out compared to the generally strict crews of Arabic countries of the Middle East (only FZ crews can be compared with LY's ones). 
Let's remind that the business cabin consists of 32 Recaro CL6710 seats in the staggered 1-2-1 layout. Whereas Recaro economy slimline seats are disaster in terms of comfort (and, probably, slimline premium economy seats are too), these Recaro business seats look really nice.

The Aircraft After The Flight

A view of 4X-EDJ from the transit gallery of T4. Thanks for a memorable flight!

Planespotting From LHR T4

Even though T4 is quite gloomy (at least in the transit and arrivals zone as I'll show further), it has excellent planespotting possibilities, and from here one can see LHR traffic at the angles not available from T5A/B/C.

T2B (the satellite of T2) is visible from T4. Looking on T2B, one can think that LHR is a large Star Alliance hub: on these photos one can see 8(!) UA widebodies, 3 AC widebodies (including a B789 in the new livery) and a MS B77W.

BA A319, EI A320 (the old livery), BA A320 and DL B764 (N844MH) in the Skyteam livery (until February 2026).

WS B789 (C-GMKS) departing from T4 for YYC. Look at this incredible diversity of liveries around T4 and T2!

TAROM A318 (YR-ASB) near T4. RO was the world's penultimate operator of "baby Airbus" and retired all its remaining 3 A318 in 2023-2024. It was one of the last times I saw a RO A318. Now in 2026 the last remaining A318 operator is AF with just 4 frames left, which will soon be replaced by the new A223s.

2023-built ET A359 (ET-AZN) - the last one of ET A359s with C30_Y318 layout - on the remote stand near T2B, Loganair AT76 and AA B77W.

EI A320 (new livery) landing on 09R/27L, BA B77W and AC B789 (new livery).

KL B738 (PH-BGA) near T4. One can see that T4's architecture is quite obsolete, but it has sufficiently large windows.

VS B789 (G-VBZZ) named "Queen Bee" landing on 09R/27L and CA A333.

BA A35K near the newer BA MRO hangar.

Another BA A35K and LH A20N (in the classic old livery, which is vanishing) near the older BA MRO hangars.

And yes - the Concorde (G-BOAB) is visible from T4! Such view is absolutely unavailable from T5A/B/C.

Let's continue with the planespotting from the transit gallery of another pier of T4.

MK A339 (3B-NBU) and IAG Cargo terminal.

VN B789 (VN-A867).

SV B77W (HZ-AK13) in C30_Y383 layout (with 3-4-3 economy). Part of SV B77W fleet has spacious 3-3-3 economy and the other part - densified 3-4-3 economy. 

KU B77W (9K-AOC) taxiing past T5A/B/C and arriving to T4.

EK A380 in "Destination Dubai" livery, arriving to T3 next to the fellow A380 in the standard EK livery.

And the icing on the cake - EY A380 (A6-API) near T4.

GP7270 engine and the very massive wing of EY whalejet.

LHR T4 (Arrivals)

In terms of architecture, LHR T4 is not impressive at all (at least in arrivals).
A couple of views of its transit galleries.

Though, the walls are nicely decorated with the portraits of British people, welcoming the guests.

Entrance to the immigration. The was a very long line and, moreso, I underwent special screening, losing a lot of precious time. So, LHR is definitely not the best point of entering the UK (for comparison, LTN is day and night better in terms of lines and border officers attitude). The transit experience in LHR withouth border crossing is so much more nicer than the UK entrance process!

Luggage claim hall.

Entrance to the train- and subway stations. The other LHR terminals can be accessed from here for free (one has just to get a free ticket in the terminal). To reach the city one can take expensive Heathrow Express or just take subway Elizabeth line (my way). In 1 hour I reached Tower brigde, when the daylight time was coming to an end.

Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!