The Israeli Transportation Ministry began on Thursday night an initiative to retrieve Israelis stranded in Turkey due to airline bans on travel to Ben-Gurion Airport. Around 2,500 Israelis were stuck in Turkey.

El Al planes are to fly to Athens while Turkish carrier brings Israelis to Greek capital for transfer to Israeli aircraft and return to Tel Aviv.

European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn visited the Regional Authority of Thessaly in Larisa, as part of his tour of the 13 regions in the country.