UPDATES WITH REMARKS OF CHIEF OF BORDER CIVIL ADMINISTRATION AT ANTALYA AIRPORT
By Can Efesoy and Zehra Tekeci
An El Al flight from Poland's capital Warsaw to Israel's capital Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Türkiye's southwestern Antalya city due to a medical emergency, but departed without refueling after the captain chose to leave, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
An El Al flight en route from Warsaw to Tel Aviv, Israel, was forced to make an emergency landing at Antalya Airport on Sunday after a passenger fell seriously ill and required immediate medical attention.
Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed that the landing was authorized to address the urgent medical situation.
"The emergency landing was granted due to the passenger's illness. Refueling was to be provided on humanitarian grounds, but the captain decided to depart voluntarily before the procedure was completed," it said.
Some reports in the Israeli media claimed that the refusal to refuel the plane at Antalya Airport might have been influenced by the fact that the airline is based in Israel.
Suat Seyitoglu, the chief of Border Civil Administration at Antalya Airport, clarified that an El Al flight from Israel made an emergency landing to offload a sick passenger and then left without refueling.
Speaking to Anadolu, Seyitoglu said fuel provision and similar commercial matters are not handled by airport authorities and are not a reason for grounding the aircraft.
He further refuted allegations that the Israeli Embassy intervened in the situation or that passengers were offloaded.
"These issues are determined by agreements. There is no involvement of ambassadors in these operational matters. Fueling arrangements and operational decisions are commercial concerns and not handled by us," Seyitoglu noted.