![An image showing Turkish and Israeli flags being held up, purportedly while an El Al Israel Airlines starts cargo flight is being loaded, uploaded on May 24, 2020 [RoeyGilad / Twitter]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/EYwoFdbXsAYBMrn-e1590333310386-1.jpg?fit=765%2C509&ssl=1)
Israeli carrier El Al will begin operating cargo flights from Tel Aviv to Turkey for the first time in a decade, according to local media.
The first El Al flight downed wheels in Istanbul on Sunday morning to pick up 24 tons of humanitarian aid and protective equipment meant for US medical teams on the frontlines fighting coronavirus.
El Al Israel Airlines starts cargo flights, twice a week, between Tel Aviv & Istanbul from today.
El Al passenger flights b/w Turkey & Israel stopped in 2010 because of the Gaza flotilla incident.#Turkey #Israel #Istanbul #Türkiye #İsrail #İstanbul #تركيا #إسرائيل #اسطنبول https://t.co/2C0szn3KlC
— Madhuvanthi Srinivasan | مدهوونتی شرینیوسن (@Bombay2Istanbul) May 24, 2020
Turkish aviation authorities gave El Al approval to operate flights twice weekly between Istanbul and Tel Aviv, in order to transport the goods after putting in the request last week.
El Al will be using its Dreamliner plane for the route.
Turkey halted flights from Tel Aviv to Turkey in 2010, after nine pro-Palestine activists were killed by Israeli forces during the Gaza flotilla incident, where the ship Mavi Marmara attempted to break the illegal naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.
After the attack, relations between Israel and Turkey became strained.
READ: Israeli airline El Al appeals to PM Netanyahu to save it
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
