Israel postpones plan to allow flights from Ramon airport for Palestinians

Israel has announced that a recent plan to allow flights for Palestinians from the southern Ramon airport was postponed to an unknown date.

"When a new date is confirmed, we will update the media and the public," Israel Airports Authority spokesman Ofer Lefler said in a statement on Sunday.

His announcement came a day before the first such flight was scheduled to depart, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Airport Authority said earlier in August that starting August 22, the Ramon Airport in the Negev desert, near the resort city of Eilat, would allow Palestinian passengers from the occupied West Bank to fly to Turkish cities of Istanbul and Antalya through flights operated by Turkish carriers.

The Palestinian Authority has publicly rejected the plan, saying the move has not been coordinated with the Palestinians and bypasses the Palestinians' right to an independent airport, local newspaper Jerusalem Post reported.

Currently, the only outbound route for Palestinians in the West Bank is through Jordan.

Ramon airport was opened in January 2019, with the first international flight landing there two months later. It has been struggling with a decrease in passengers since the Covid-19 pandemic.

--IANS

int/khz/