Israeli President Isaac Herzog flew aboard an Azerbaijani airline to reach his destination without entering Turkish airspace, according to a report by Middle East Eye. The detail matters because Turkey has banned Israeli aircraft from its airspace, and the ban has not been lifted.

The report did not specify the flight date, the aircraft type, or the exact routing in full. What it does establish is the mechanism: a presidential delegation, unable to overfly Turkey directly, arranged carriage on an Azerbaijani operator whose routings remain open where Israeli-flagged traffic is not.

Why does the Turkish ban still shape Israeli routings?

Turkey closed its airspace to Israeli aircraft amid the war in Gaza, and Ankara has given no public indication of a reversal. For Israeli state and commercial flights, the closure removes the most direct corridor between Israel and destinations in Central Asia, the Caucasus and beyond.

Airspace bans of this kind are not symbolic. They add track miles, fuel burn and block time, and they force schedulers to thread alternatives — over Egypt and Saudi Arabia, or around the Black Sea via corridors that remain open. A presidential operation faces the additional constraint that the aircraft and its diplomatic clearance must be acceptable to every state overflown.

Azerbaijan offers a partial answer. Baku's relations with both Jerusalem and Ankara permit its carriers to operate routings that an Israeli flag cannot. Middle East Eye's account indicates the presidency used precisely that gap.

What does this say about the Israel-Azerbaijan air corridor?

Azerbaijan is one of the few Muslim-majority states maintaining open transport and energy ties with Israel. Israeli national carrier El Al has operated Tel Aviv–Baku services, and the corridor has functioned as a strategic bypass during successive regional airspace closures.

A presidential delegation choosing an Azerbaijani flight rather than a chartered Israeli aircraft is a quiet admission of the constraint's reach. It also signals that the corridor remains politically viable at head-of-state level, which is not nothing in the current climate.

The report does not say whether the arrangement involved a scheduled service or a dedicated charter. Middle East Eye described the flight only as Azerbaijani carriage adopted to bypass the Turkish restriction.

Is a Turkish reversal likely?

Nothing in the report suggests one. The ban stands, and Israeli operators continue to plan around it — at a cost in range, schedule and, for state flights, diplomatic choreography.

Until Ankara signals otherwise, the workaround documented by Middle East Eye is likely to remain the template: Israeli official travel routed through partners whose flags clear where Israel's does not.