El Al revamps passenger planes to carry cargo to Israel

The Boeing 737 "Otef Israel" has officially joined El Al's fleet as a cargo plane. The aircraft, which was originally a passenger plane, can carry 20 tons of cargo. It will make two daily flights to different locations in Europe, and made its debut flight on Tuesday to Frankfurt.

El Al has also removed the passenger seats from one of its Boeing 777 planes, for the same purpose. It will be able to carry between 25 and 50 tons of cargo per flight.

As part of the increase in cargo flights to Israel, the "Jerusalem of Gold" Dreamliner landed in Mumbai, India on Tuesday, where it was loaded with cargo to return to Israel. It was the first time in four years that an El Al flight had landed in India. 

Passenger travel is low, after busy weeks at war's start

The transition from passenger to cargo flights comes as passenger transport to Israel finally wanes, after several weeks of increased flights as foreigners who were in Israel left the country and thousands of reservists and expats returned home. The first two weeks of the war saw about a quarter of a million passengers, and the airline had to add extra flights to cover the need. Cargo was also being transported during this time, on dedicated cargo planes and in the storage space of passenger flights. 

The airline also flew several one-time flights to transport particular materials for the war effort, such as medical equipment and thermal clothing for IDF soldiers. On one such flight, photos of those held hostage in Gaza were attached to the plane's seats, images of which made the rounds on social media both in Israel and abroad.