British Airways first landed in Israel with seaplanes in the Kinneret in 1932, when it was known as Imperial Airlines. Now it flies Boeings twice a day to Tel Aviv.

Instead of transferring passengers to boats to reach shore, BA operates Boeing 767 and 777s twice a day to and from London.

Celebrating 80 years of operations in Israel, its commercial manager Yael Katan says the airline was the first to provide land service in the country, starting in 1960.

British Airways is investing $40 million to upgrade the 767, re-designing the interior, upgrading bathrooms and increasing storage space by 25 percent. The refurbished planes are expected to be ready for passengers by next year.

Katje Selle, manager of the airline’s European and African operations, told Arutz Sheva that orders worth $5 billion have been laced for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Approximately 350,000 people travel to and from Israel on British Airways, which carries 33 million people around the world.