Back in the day, they were unable to overfly much of Africa and had to route off the coast around the bulge, enroute to Europe. Fueling stops were in Las Palmas or Ilha do Sol. Due to weight limitations, a full cabin wasn’t possible and IIRC they had 60 seats fewer than BA, which made for plenty of legroom. Also they were one of the few operators of the B747SP.
A very fine airline which, similar to EL AL, couldn’t reach its potential due to politics.
Rumour was that pilots were paid the same as train drivers when it was part of the railways group, anyone able to provide more info ?