Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines axe Israel flights, hand back slots

Turkish Airlines and the Turkish-based low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines have announced a decision not to return to serve Israel’s primary airport in the capital, Tel Aviv. The airlines have collectively handed back the slots they held at the airport, having decided not to reinstate services that were halted following the upscaling in hostilities in October 2023 between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While the two carriers are set to forgo the valuable landing and take-off slots at Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV), the permanent cessation of flights will undoubtedly come as a blow to the airport itself. Before the suspension of services between Istanbul and Tel Aviv, both carriers had a significant presence at Ben Gurion.

Turkish Airlines was one of the most prolific foreign airlines operating at the airport. In 2019, before the COVID pandemic set in, the company was ranked as the fourth busiest carrier at the airport, with a 4.87%. share of the airport’s total traffic. It maintained this position until October 2023, when it halted flights due to the rising tensions. Pegasus, meanwhile, was ranked as the 12th busiest carrier.

ThaKlein / ShutterstockAccording to Globes News, the Tel Aviv to  Istanbul route was one of Turkish Airlines’ most profitable, thanks to the high demand for originating flights from Tel Aviv via Istanbul to numerous other destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia served by Turkish Airlines. While point-to-point traffic on the route was not as lucrative or prolific, the international traffic revenue will be missed by the carrier.

Until the outbreak of the war with Hamas in 2023, Turkish Airlines regularly operated more than ten daily flights on the Tel Aviv to Istanbul route, with as many as 16 flights daily in peak periods. Between July and August 2023, more than 5% of the passengers who passed through the airport flew with the carrier.

Both Turkish Airlines’ and Pegasus Airlines’ decision not to return to Tel Aviv could also potentially leave the carriers open to secondary impact, as other airlines move in on the route and also take full advantage of the freed-up slots at Tel Aviv. As far as Turkish Airlines is concerned, the price will be the loss of convenient flight times, which will enable its competitors to consolidate their presence and maximize profits on daily flights on routes to and from Israel.

Oleh Yatskiv / ShutterstockAccording to sources, the two airlines were forced to show their hands in terms of Tel Aviv service by the ‘use it or lose it’ slot rules that govern many major airports worldwide. Should an airline hold slots at an airport but fail to use them for any reason (except for conflict), then they have to be surrendered for use by other carriers.  

The Turkish companies were supposed to decide in March 2025 whether to keep their slots in Israel, but because of the security uncertainty that still prevails in the region currently, they were given an extension of time to decide the fate of their services. Their ultimate decision not to maintain their slots or return to fly to Tel Aviv could make it difficult for them to return to operating in Israel later on, should they wish to do so.

Turkish Airlines is 49% owned by a state investment fund, although it operates as a profit-making business entity in every respect. Nevertheless, as a company subject to significant influence by the Turkish government, its decisions are considered not to be exclusively economically driven, but are also political, where President Erdoğan has been openly critical of Israel’s strategies and tactics in the war against Hamas.

The decision by the two airlines comes just 24 hours after it was revealed that UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic will also not return to serve Tel Aviv. The carrier announced on April 28, 2025, that it had decided to permanently cancel flights on its London-Heathrow to Tel Aviv route with immediate effect. The cessation of flights comes after almost 18 months of the airline deliberating the future of the route and its fit in the carrier’s expanding route network.      

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