Istanbul, Turkey
Photo: Danny Sadeh
Israel to resume regular flights to Turkey
After more than five years and in light of security arrangements coordination in local airports, Israeli airlines to start flying to Turkish destinations again this summer
VIDEO - Israel
will resume regular flights to Turkey this summer after more than five years, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced Wednesday.
"The Turkish authorities accepted the Israeli security demands, and Israel received satisfactory answers and solutions for all the security issues it raised during the talks," the minister said in a statement.
An agreement signed Tuesday in Ankara by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director Giora Romm and his Turkish counterpart, Bilal Eksi allows Israeli airlines to resume flights to Turkey, following talks between the two countries' aviation authorities in the past few months.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
Israeli airlines halted all regular and charter flights to Turkey more than five years ago due to a dispute on security arrangement in the Turkish airports.
Transportation Minister Katz noted that this was important news for Israeli airlines, which will now be able to compete with Turkish airlines under similar conditions.
Turkish Summer
Danny Sadeh
Although numbers are still lower than record year 2008, Israelis seem to be flocking back to Turkish resorts with 29,356 visits this August compared to 11,394 in 2012
Romm said Israeli airlines will be able to fly to Turkey as of the summer of 2014. The Civil Aviation Authority plans to allow all Israeli companies to operate flights to Turkey.
The CAA director noted that the talks had been held in a businesslike and friendly atmosphere. He said that throughout the talks, the Turks expressed good will and readiness to resume Israeli airlines' flights to Turkey.
Following the agreement, Israeli airlines will be able to operate regular and charter flights to Turkey without any limitations. Turkish airlines currently operate more than 60 weekly flights to Israel and have carried more than one million passengers between the countries this past year.
Arkia CEO Gadi Tepper said, "We would like to thank Giora Romm and the CAA team for the efforts they invested in the talks with the aviation authorities in Turkey, and we hope that in the upcoming season Arkia will be allowed to operate flights to Turkey without any restriction on activity hours."
