An El Al plane arrives from France at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, August 1, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg / Flash90)
Israeli airline El Al announces that it will operate rescue flights from the Netherlands to Israel on Friday evening and Shabbat following the overnight attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam.
The airline does not usually operate on Saturdays, in line with traditional Jewish religious law, but received permission to do so from Israel’s newly appointed Chief Rabbis, Rabbi David Yosef and Rabbi Kalman Bar.
The flights will be free of charge for all passengers who had booked a return ticket from Amsterdam to Israel with El Al and all other airlines, the flag carrier says.
The first flight will depart from Amsterdam at 2 p.m. local time and arrive back in Israel on Friday evening, El Al says. It adds that two regularly scheduled flights will also depart Amsterdam for Tel Aviv later today, each carrying around 350 passengers.
Source: The Times of Israel
