Dozens of Palestinians departed for Cyprus from southern Israel's Ramon Airport on Monday after Israel launched a pilot program to enable Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to fly overseas.

"Palestinians were aboard an international flight from Ramon Airport to Larnaca for the first time," the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians, confirmed in a statement.

"Staff work is still underway" to allow more flights by Palestinians via Ramon Airport, COGAT said.

The Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported that buses organized by Israeli authorities brought about 40 Palestinian passengers from the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus and Jericho to the airport. They boarded an Arika Israeli Airlines flight.

Arkia CEO Oz Berlovich told Ynet that the group included mostly physicians, pharmacists and their spouses, who flew to Larnaca for a medical conference and vacation.

Earlier in August, the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) announced that starting Aug. 22, the Ramon Airport would allow Palestinian passengers from the occupied West Bank to fly to the Turkish cities of Istanbul and Antalya via flights operated by Turkish carriers.

The Palestinian Authority has publicly rejected the plan, saying the move has not been coordinated with the Palestinians and bypasses the Palestinians' right to an independent airport, Jerusalem Post daily reported.

Ramon Airport is located in the Negev Desert, near the resort city of Eilat, some 300 km south of Jerusalem.

The only outbound route for Palestinians in the West Bank was via Jordan.

Ramon Airport was opened in January 2019, with the first international flight landing there two months later. It has been struggling with a decrease in passengers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.