Israel's national airline is based at Tel Aviv Airport and fully adapts to local customs. For example, it does not operate any flights on the Sabbath, which in practice means that El Al does not fly at all on Saturday and Friday nights, and only serves kosher food on board. Due to its complicated relations with neighbouring countries, El Al has the strictest security rules, and its aircraft are the only civilian aircraft in the world equipped with a missile defence system.

The company has also been involved in several rescue operations, and in 1991, while transporting Jewish refugees from Ethiopia to Israel, a Boeing 747 El Al aircraft carried 1,122 passengers on a single flight, setting a world record for the number of passengers carried on a single aircraft.

In 2013, a low-cost subsidiary, Up, was established to replace the parent El Al, including on the Prague route.