Israel launches flight for Palestinians but keeps Jerusalem airport closed

Israel on Monday launched a scheme allowing Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to fly abroad from an airport in the Naqab (Negev) desert.

Forty Palestinians were aboard the first flight from Ramon airport near the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, a spokeswoman for the Israel Airports Authority told AFP.

The flight operated by Israeli airline Arkia is expected to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, at 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) on Monday.

The vast majority of Palestinians from the territory are banned from using Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. 

Palestinians must instead make an overland crossing from the West Bank to Jordan, before boarding a flight in the country's capital Amman.

The King Hussein (Allenby) crossing between Jordan and the West Bank last month saw "an unprecedented rise in the number of travellers", a Jordanian official said.

Musa Rahal, the spokesperson for the Palestinian ministry of transport, communications, and civil aviation, had in July rejected Israel's plan, calling it a "unilateral act" that is "[rejected] by the ministry".

Instead, the Palestinian Authority demanded the reopening of Jerusalem airport, also known as Qalandia airport, which was closed by Israel to civilian traffic in 2000, amid the breakout of the Second Intifada.

The airport in Jerusalem came under Israeli occupation in 1967 following its invasion of the West Bank and was then annexed by Israel in 1970, where it was used mostly for domestic flights to Tel Aviv.

The first flights in the Ramon pilot programme were expected to be operated by Turkish airlines.

The Israel Airports Authority said Sunday that the involvement of foreign firms in the scheme had been postponed.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to travel Monday to the Turkish capital Ankara, days after Turkey and Israel restored full diplomatic relations.