Editing El Al (section)

=== 1950s: Adding cargo service and destinations ===
[[File:Curtiss C-46D 4X-ALF El AL LHR 05.09.54 edited-3.jpg|thumb|right|A Curtiss Commando freight aircraft of El Al]]

A regular service to London was inaugurated in the middle of 1950. Later that year, El Al acquired Universal Airways, which was owned by South African Zionists.

El Al's cargo service was inaugurated in 1950 and initially relied on military surplus [[Curtiss C-46 Commando]] aircraft. The same aircraft type was used also for passengers transportation in certain routes.<ref>{{cite web |title=EL AL Fleet – Historic – Curtiss C-46 Aircraft |url=https://www.israelairlinemuseum.org/el-al-fleet/el-al-fleet-historic/el-al-fleet-historic-curtiss-c-46-aircraft/ |website=Israeli Airline Museum |date=30 July 2019 |access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref> The same year the airline initiated charter services to the United States, followed by scheduled flights soon after.<ref name="answers" />

In 1950–1951 El Al expanded its activities in Europe and added new destinations such as [[Vienna]] and [[Istanbul]], [[Athens]] and [[Nicosia]]. On 31 July 1950, the company celebrated the first anniversary of its regular flight program.

[[File:Immigrants 1951.jpg|thumb|Kurdish Jewish Immigrants from Iraq leaving [[Ben-Gurion International Airport|Lod Airport]] (1951)]]
[[File:Bristol 175 312 4X-AGB El Al FAR 08.09.57 edited-2.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Bristol Britannia]] of El Al at Farnborough Airport in 1957 just before delivery to the airline]]

The airline was involved in several covert operations: In the early 1950s, El Al airlifted over 160,000 immigrants to Israel from [[History of the Jews in Iran|Iran]], [[History of the Jews in Iraq|Iraq]] and [[Yemenite Jews|Yemen]] as part of [[Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)|Operation Magic Carpet]] and [[Operation Ezra and Nehemiah]].<ref name="History of El Al">{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/AboutElAl/ | title=History of El Al | access-date=2007-05-07 | publisher=El Al}}</ref> In 1960, [[Nazism|Nazi]] war criminal [[Adolf Eichmann]] was captured and flown from Argentina to Israel on an El Al aircraft.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874118-2,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913202901/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874118-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 13, 2012 | title=The Beast in Chains | magazine=Time | date=June 6, 1960| access-date=2007-06-20}}</ref>

In 1955, after using [[Lockheed Constellation]]s for several years, the airline purchased two [[Bristol Britannia]] aircraft. El Al was the second airline in the world to fly this plane, after the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]]. In 1958, El Al ran a newspaper advertisement in the United States featuring a picture of a "shrunken" Atlantic Ocean ("Starting Dec. 23, the [[Atlantic Ocean]] will be 20% smaller") to promote its non-stop [[transatlantic flight]]s.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://time.com/archive/6870668/advertising-admans-adman/ | title=Adman's Adman | access-date=2007-05-28 | magazine=Time | date=March 31, 1958}}</ref> This was a bold step: the airline industry had never used images of the ocean in its advertising because of the widespread public fear of airline crashes. The advertisement, which ran only once, proved effective. Within a year, El Al's sales tripled.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/weirtz/doyle.htm | title=Doyle Dane Bernbach | access-date=2007-05-28}}</ref>

[[File:1951 British mechanics residence permit for Israel - El Al worker.jpg|thumb|1951 British mechanic's residence permit for Israel – El Al worker]]

[[File:1951 El Al pilot's early Israeli passport.jpg|thumb|A 1951 El Al pilot's early Israeli passport]]