For the first time in a decade, an El Al flight has landed in Turkey to collect humanitarian aid to help the US fight the coronavirus, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The Dreamliner plane landed in Istanbul at 7.a.m. and loaded around 24 tons of humanitarian aid and equipment to help the virus-stricken US, which has so far recorded over 1.6 million coronavirus cases and suffered more than 100,000 deaths.
El Al has been authorized to operate two flights for humanitarian purposes this week; the company has applied to the Turkish authorities for permission to operate flights on a regular basis.
The plane will return to Tel Aviv from Istanbul before continuing on to New York. Israel’s national carrier has converted some of its planes to cargo planes for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, but has made moves Sunday morning in an attempt to resume international flights as soon as possible.