Israel’s flag carrier El Al said on Monday that a flight from Warsaw to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Antalya, Turkey, on Sunday.
Due to strained relations between Turkey and Israel, Turkish airport crew members refused to refuel the plane or allow anyone except the passenger who needed medical assistance to leave the aircraft.
El Al Flight LY5102 was about three hours into its journey from Warsaw, Poland, to Tel Aviv, Israel, when it declared an in-flight emergency. The plane landed at Antalya Airport on the advice of a doctor who was treating the stricken passenger.
The plane remained on the ground for several hours while the sick passenger was evacuated to a hospital, during which time none of the other passengers were allowed to leave. The plane kept its engines running the entire time to provide power and air conditioning, which substantially depleted its fuel reserves.
According to El Al, Turkish airport workers “refused to refuel the company’s plane, even though it was a medical case.” Once the medical emergency had been handled, the plane made a 40-minute flight to Rhodes, Greece, so it could land again and refuel then continue to Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv later on Sunday.
Turkish officials disputed this account, claiming it was the El Al captain’s decision to refuse fuel at Antalya Airport.
“Fuel was to be provided to the plane due to humanitarian considerations, but as the relevant procedure was about to be completed, the captain decided to leave of his own accord,” a Turkish diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday.
Israeli state TV station KAN disputed the Turkish diplomat’s claims, insisting that the flight crew was originally told it would be allowed to deplane and refuel, but Turkish officials then retracted their permission to do both, supposedly because “permits” were needed to fuel the aircraft.
Neither Turkish nor El Al officials have disclosed details about the passenger’s ailment, health status, or current location.
Turkey was a popular tourist destination for Israelis before the Gaza war, and there used to be a number of direct flights available between Tel Aviv and Istanbul every day. Istanbul was also a convenient hub for Israeli flights to other parts of the world.
Those flights were canceled after Hamas attacked Israeli civilians on October 7, and the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which openly supports Hamas, became harshly critical of the Israeli response. Turkish Airlines said in April that it will not resume flights to Israel until March 2025 at the earliest.