Israeli plane lands in Turkey for first time in 13 years, says El Al

An Israeli plane landed in Turkey for the first time in 13 years, the country's flag carrier El Al said.

El Al was the only Israeli airline to conduct flights to Turkey until it cancelled the route to Istanbul in 2007 due to high security costs and stiff restrictions arising from the tense relations between the two countries, reports Xinhua news agency.

Since then, except for emergency landings and private flights, no Israeli aircraft has landed in Turkey.

On Sunday, El Al's Dreamliner aircraft, converted to carry cargo, landed in Istanbul. It was loaded there with 24 tonnes of humanitarian coronavirus equipment, destined for Israel and the US.

So far, El Al has received approval from the Turkish authorities to operate two flights for humanitarian purposes and is awaiting approval to operate cargo flights regularly.