Most Jewish Passengers on a Single Flight
Record holder
Record value
1,087 verified Jewish passengers on a single flight
During Operation Solomon on 24 May 1991, an El Al Boeing 747 carried an extraordinary number of Ethiopian Jewish passengers from Addis Ababa to Israel in one of the most remarkable rescue airlifts in aviation history. JWR uses the conservative verified figure of 1,087 Jewish passengers, based on the official IDF account, while Guinness World Records reports an official total of 1,088 and notes that contemporary sources gave conflicting totals. Guinness also records an extraordinary detail: its 1,088 total includes two babies born during the flight. If counted in the onboard total, the births meant the aircraft landed with more people aboard than had originally boarded. Because the historical passenger totals differ between authoritative sources, JWR preserves 1,087 as its verified record value while presenting the in-flight births as a sourced historical detail.
- Holder country
- Israel
- Achievement location
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Achievement date
- 24 May 1991