El Al’s last 787 delivery put back until early 2023

El Al is pushing back delivery of its final Boeing 787 at least until March next year, three years beyond its original introduction date. The airline says the 787-8 – one of four of the variant – was supposed to be accepted in March 2020, just as pandemic-related disruption to the air transport sector began to emerge. Delivery of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered twinjet has been postponed a number of times. El Al remarks, in its full-year financial statement, that Boeing has agreed to defer the aircraft until March 2023. Repayment of a $31m loan from a financial institution to support advance payments on the aircraft has been put back to December this year. “The company continues to explore long-term financing alternatives for funding the aircraft,” the carrier says. El Al has frozen a number of projects, including fleet investments, as part of its financial recovery efforts. It has 15 other 787s comprising 12 787-9s and the three 787-8s already delivered.<br/>