Political reasons

Ice age Turkey and Israel: Boeing 737 odyssey

At the beginning of May, Turkey severed trade relations with Israel. Passengers on a flight have now felt the consequences ...

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/AP (Symbolbild))

Due to a medical emergency, a Boeing 737 of the airline El Al had to make an unscheduled landing in Antalya. However, the plane was denied fuel for political reasons. A long odyssey began for the plane's passengers ...

It's almost routine for airline crews: if a passenger on board falls seriously ill and needs urgent medical attention, they head for the nearest suitable airport.

This is what happened on Sunday on flight LY5102 from Warsaw to Tel Aviv. A man on board a Boeing 737-800 needed medical assistance. Fortunately, there was a doctor on board who recommended that he be taken to hospital immediately. The plane therefore landed in Antalya shortly before 3 p.m. local time.

Trade relations with Turkey interrupted
There, the crew learned that the plane would not be refueled in Turkey. The reason: at the beginning of May, Turkey broke off trade relations with Israel and declared that it would not resume them until the Israeli government allowed an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Passengers were not allowed to leave the plane
Without refueling, El Al's Boeing 737 was unable to reach Tel Aviv. The crew therefore had to fly to Greece to refuel. Before that, however, the passengers had to wait three hours in the plane, which they were not allowed to leave, according to the information portal "aeroTELEGRAPH".

After a further 40 minutes, the plane finally landed on Rhodes. The journey to Tel Aviv only continued after a one-hour refueling stop. An odyssey of modern times ...