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Photo: Ziv Koren

The EL AL Premier customer experience just got even better: the TOP PLATINUM Lounge reopens after renovations Photo: Lior Teitler

EL AL pilot Captain Arik Chechkes with his mother Rina, a Holocaust survivor

Captain Arik Chechkes, an EL AL pilot for nearly 25 years, embarked on an especially emotional journey: accompanying his mother, Rina, a Holocaust survivor, back to Auschwitz. The woman who once hid from the Nazis in a cellar to stay alive returned there today as a mother of seven, a grandmother to a large family, and someone who has repeated one simple word throughout her life: we won. Arik grew up in a home where memory was part of daily life, with a father who saved Jewish lives and a mother who survived thanks to her own mother’s courage. He carries that story with him everywhere, even into the cockpit. With every landing he performs in an EL AL aircraft, the Israeli flag on the tail reminds him that he is not only a pilot, but the son of Holocaust survivors who embodies true freedom, his parents' victory, and the enduring presence of the Jewish state. This journey was made possible as part of an intimate delegation of Holocaust survivors who traveled to Poland at the last minute with March of the Living and Israeli tech companies. Today, standing beside his mother, wrapped in the flag aboard an EL AL aircraft, he knows this is our story: to continue, to build, and to remember where we came from. A journey of victory for an EL AL pilot and his mother, a Holocaust survivor

Following a comprehensive renovation and upgrade process, the Top Lounge at Terminal 3 has reopened for EL AL’s TOP PLATINUM customers. This reopening is part of a broader initiative to enhance the service experience for the airline’s Premier customers. The lounge has been entirely refurbished and given new seating areas, quiet workspaces, spacious hospitality zones and advanced infrastructure. As part of the upgrade, led by Orly Shrem Architects, a firm specializing in the design of luxury spaces, collaborations were formed with leading companies. These include Pitaro Hecht, which supplied

individual among the six million, creating a quiet moment of remembrance even while traveling. The initiative transformed the journey itself into a space for reflection, linking personal travel with collective memory. As Israel’s national airline, transporting tens of thousands of passengers daily from around the world, EL AL places deep importance on initiatives that connect national remembrance with everyday life. The candles were distributed on flights from various gateways, allowing the memory of the Holocaust to resonate within Jewish and Israeli communities worldwide. luxury furniture from international brands, Samsung, which has provided an advanced display system, and HeziBank in the fields of flooring and wall coverings. All these elements, contribute to creating a refined, modern and high-quality hospitality experience. We are continuously working to enhance the flight and service experience for all our customers, with a particular focus on our TOP PLATINUM customers. The renovation of the TOP Lounge was designed to create a hospitality experience that is felt in every detail from the moment guests enter, setting the highest standard for our Premier customers.

EL AL joins the National Holocaust Remembrance Initiative with Shem VeNer and Yad Vashem

On Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, EL AL took part in a nationwide commemoration initiative led by Shem VeNer, in partnership with Yad Vashem. As

part of the initiative, thousands of personal memorial candles bearing the names of Holocaust victims were distributed to passengers aboard EL AL flights. Throughout the day’s flights, passengers received a single candle, each representing one

32 ATMOSPHERE MAY 2026