Nicosia International Airport
Encyclopedia
Nicosia International Airport is a largely disused airport
located to the west of the Cypriot
capital city of Nicosia
. It was originally the main airport for the island, but commercial activity ceased following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
in 1974. The airport site is now mainly used as the headquarters base of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
.
station RAF Nicosia
until 1974. At first it acted principally as a military airport, and it is still owned by the British Ministry of Defence
The landing strip was constructed in 1939 by the Shell Company and Pierides & Michaelides Ltd. Services were provided by Misrair with four-engined DH.86
aircraft.
During the Second World War the airport's facilities and runway were extended by local contractors Stelios Joannou and George Paraskevaides. American bombers used the runway in 1943-44 when returning from the allied bombings of the Romanian Ploieşti
oil fields.
After the war commercial services where reintroduced, and by 1948 Misrair, BOAC
, Cyprus Airways
and MEA
were providing regular services.
The facilities provided were limited, with three Nissen hut
s used as a terminal building housing Customs, Immigration, Civil Aviation, Signals, Traffic and Operational Services. Restaurant Services were provided by the NAAFI.
In 1949 the first terminal building was designed and built by the Public Works Department at a cost of £50,000 and was opened in May of that year. The building was then extended together with the aircraft apron in 1959. The building was vacated in 1968 with the opening of the new terminal. The Nicosia Flying Club and other flying organisations continued to use the old building.
The RAF withdrew from the airfield in 1966 due to limited space brought on by vastly increasing civilian aircraft movements.
On 27 March 1968 a modern new terminal, designed by the German company Dorch-Gehrmann of Wiesbaden, and built by Cybarco, was opened, at a cost of £1,100,000 sterling
, of which £500,000 was contributed by Britain. The new terminal could accommodate 800 passengers at one time and the parking apron 11 aircraft.
In June 1974 plans were in place for the terminal to be extended and the apron to be enlarged to 16 aircraft of which 2 places were to be for widebodied aircraft. But this was never to happen: on 15 July 1974 right wing Greek nationalists overthrew the democratically-elected president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios
. Nicosia Airport was briefly closed by the coupists, then used on 17 July 1974 to ferry troops from Greece to Cyprus to support the coup against Makarios. Only on the 18 July was it allowed to reopen to civilian traffic, becoming a site of chaotic scenes as holidaymakers and other foreign nationals tried to leave the island. Finally, on 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus
, bombing the airport heavily and forcing its permanent closure. The last commercial airline flights out out of Nicosia Airport took place in 1977 under UN Special Authorisation, when three of the remaining Cyprus Airways aircraft stranded there since the 1974 invasion were retrieved by British Airways engineers and flown to London. One of these, a Trident 2 is now on show at the Imperial War Museum Duxford
.
With the Turkish invasion the airport was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting between Cypriot and Turkish forces, which led the United Nations Security Council
to declare it a United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) during the conflict. This required both sides to withdraw at least 500 metres from the perimeter of the airport. With the ceasefire signed on 16 August 1974 Nicosia Airport became part of the United Nations controlled Buffer Zone
separating the two communities on the island, and it has been inoperable as a fully functioning airport ever since. However, active United Nations helicopters are based at the site, it is the headquarters for the UN peace keeping mission in Cyprus UNFICYP and it is used as one of the sites for intercommunal peace talks. It is also the home to a number of recreational facilities for UN personnel.
Following the closure of Nicosia Airport a new airport, Larnaca International Airport
(LCA), was opened in the south in 1975, and in the north Ercan International Airport (ECN) was opened in 2004, both on former RAF airfields. Paphos International Airport
(PFO) was also opened in the south in 1983.
There have been some plans for Nicosia Airport to be reopened under United Nations
(UN) control as a goodwill measure, but so far neither the Greek
nor the Turkish Cypriots
have seriously pursued this option.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located to the west of the Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
capital city of Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
. It was originally the main airport for the island, but commercial activity ceased following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
in 1974. The airport site is now mainly used as the headquarters base of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus was established in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and a return to normal conditions...
.
History
Nicosia used to be the principal airport for Cyprus from its initial construction in the 1930s as the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
station RAF Nicosia
RAF Nicosia
The former Royal Air Force Station Nicosia, commonly known as RAF Nicosia, was a Royal Air Force airbase in Cyprus. RAF Nicosia was Headquarters Royal Air Force Cyprus from 8 June to 29 July 1941...
until 1974. At first it acted principally as a military airport, and it is still owned by the British Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
The landing strip was constructed in 1939 by the Shell Company and Pierides & Michaelides Ltd. Services were provided by Misrair with four-engined DH.86
De Havilland Express
The de Havilland Express was a four-engined passenger aircraft from the 1930s manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.-Development:...
aircraft.
During the Second World War the airport's facilities and runway were extended by local contractors Stelios Joannou and George Paraskevaides. American bombers used the runway in 1943-44 when returning from the allied bombings of the Romanian Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
oil fields.
After the war commercial services where reintroduced, and by 1948 Misrair, BOAC
Boac
Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
, Cyprus Airways
Cyprus Airways
Cyprus Airways is the national airline of Cyprus, a public limited company with its head offices located in the capital of the island, Nicosia. It operates scheduled services to 41 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf. It flies from both airports of the island, Larnaca and Paphos,...
and MEA
Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
were providing regular services.
The facilities provided were limited, with three Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
s used as a terminal building housing Customs, Immigration, Civil Aviation, Signals, Traffic and Operational Services. Restaurant Services were provided by the NAAFI.
In 1949 the first terminal building was designed and built by the Public Works Department at a cost of £50,000 and was opened in May of that year. The building was then extended together with the aircraft apron in 1959. The building was vacated in 1968 with the opening of the new terminal. The Nicosia Flying Club and other flying organisations continued to use the old building.
The RAF withdrew from the airfield in 1966 due to limited space brought on by vastly increasing civilian aircraft movements.
On 27 March 1968 a modern new terminal, designed by the German company Dorch-Gehrmann of Wiesbaden, and built by Cybarco, was opened, at a cost of £1,100,000 sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
, of which £500,000 was contributed by Britain. The new terminal could accommodate 800 passengers at one time and the parking apron 11 aircraft.
In June 1974 plans were in place for the terminal to be extended and the apron to be enlarged to 16 aircraft of which 2 places were to be for widebodied aircraft. But this was never to happen: on 15 July 1974 right wing Greek nationalists overthrew the democratically-elected president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios
Makarios III
Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....
. Nicosia Airport was briefly closed by the coupists, then used on 17 July 1974 to ferry troops from Greece to Cyprus to support the coup against Makarios. Only on the 18 July was it allowed to reopen to civilian traffic, becoming a site of chaotic scenes as holidaymakers and other foreign nationals tried to leave the island. Finally, on 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
, bombing the airport heavily and forcing its permanent closure. The last commercial airline flights out out of Nicosia Airport took place in 1977 under UN Special Authorisation, when three of the remaining Cyprus Airways aircraft stranded there since the 1974 invasion were retrieved by British Airways engineers and flown to London. One of these, a Trident 2 is now on show at the Imperial War Museum Duxford
Imperial War Museum Duxford
Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and minor naval vessels in seven...
.
With the Turkish invasion the airport was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting between Cypriot and Turkish forces, which led the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
to declare it a United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) during the conflict. This required both sides to withdraw at least 500 metres from the perimeter of the airport. With the ceasefire signed on 16 August 1974 Nicosia Airport became part of the United Nations controlled Buffer Zone
United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus
The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus runs for more than along what is known as the Green Line and has an area of . The zone partitions the island of Cyprus into a southern area effectively controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus , and the northern area...
separating the two communities on the island, and it has been inoperable as a fully functioning airport ever since. However, active United Nations helicopters are based at the site, it is the headquarters for the UN peace keeping mission in Cyprus UNFICYP and it is used as one of the sites for intercommunal peace talks. It is also the home to a number of recreational facilities for UN personnel.
Following the closure of Nicosia Airport a new airport, Larnaca International Airport
Larnaca International Airport
Larnaca International Airport is an international airport located southwest of Larnaca, Cyprus. Larnaca International Airport is Cyprus' main international gateway and the larger of the country's two commercial airports, the other being Paphos International Airport on the island's southwestern...
(LCA), was opened in the south in 1975, and in the north Ercan International Airport (ECN) was opened in 2004, both on former RAF airfields. Paphos International Airport
Paphos International Airport
-Public transport:A bus serviceis available from the airport to Karavella station in Paphos where one may change bus to other destinations in the island. Information regarding these buses is available at .-External links:*...
(PFO) was also opened in the south in 1983.
There have been some plans for Nicosia Airport to be reopened under United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(UN) control as a goodwill measure, but so far neither the Greek
Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
nor the Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots are the ethnic Turks and members of the Turkish-speaking ethnolinguistic community of the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The term is used to refer explicitly to the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, whose Ottoman Turkish forbears colonised the island in 1571...
have seriously pursued this option.
Incidents and accidents
- On 3 March 1956 a Handley Page HermesHandley Page HermesThe Handley Page HP 81 Hermes was a British civilian airliner built by Handley Page in the 1940s and 50s. Closely related to Handley Page's Hastings military transport, the Hermes was a low-wing monoplane powered by four piston engines...
(a Hermes IV G-ALDW operated by Skyways Limited) was destroyed on the ground when an explosion (caused by a time-bomb) occurred 20 minutes before the aircraft was due to depart for the United Kingdom with 68 passengers.
- On 27 April 1956 a RAF Douglas DakotaC-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
was destroyed on the ground by a bomb thought to have been placed by EOKAEOKAEOKA was an anticolonial, antiimperialist nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on the 1st of April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving...
fighters.
- On 20 April 1967 a Bristol BritanniaBristol BritanniaThe Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
crashed on approach1967 Nicosia Britannia disasterThe Nicosia Britannia disaster was the death of 126 passengers and crew on a Bristol Britannia of the Swiss airline Globe Air when it flew into the ground 3.5km south of Nicosia Airport, in Cyprus.-Accident:...
to the airport in bad weather, 126 killed.
- On 29 January 1973 an EgyptAir Ilyushin Il-181973 EgyptAir Ilyushin Il-18 crashThe EgyptAir Ilyushin Il-18 crash occurred on 29 January 1973. The turboprop ran the international route between Cairo International Airport and the now defunct Nicosia International Airport. All 37 people on board died...
aircraft (Reg No SU-AOV) crashed into the Pentadaktylos mountain range on approach to NIC killing all 37 aboard (7 crew and 30 passengers).
- On August 29 1973, a Czechoslovak Airlines Tupolev Tu-104Tupolev Tu-104The Tupolev Tu-104 was a twin-engined medium-range turbojet-powered Soviet airliner and the world's first successful jet airliner...
operating flight CSA531 from Damascus overran the runway upon landing. The aircraft was due to fly onwards to Prague from Nicosia. No fatalities were reported on the flight, and the wreckage on the aircraft still lies at the end of the runway.
- On 20 July 1974, two empty Cyprus AirwaysCyprus AirwaysCyprus Airways is the national airline of Cyprus, a public limited company with its head offices located in the capital of the island, Nicosia. It operates scheduled services to 41 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf. It flies from both airports of the island, Larnaca and Paphos,...
airliners (a Hawker-SiddeleyHawker Siddeley TridentThe Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident was a British short/medium-range three-engined jet airliner designed by de Havilland and built by Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s and 1970s...
HS121 Trident 1E (5B-DAE), and a TridentHawker Siddeley TridentThe Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident was a British short/medium-range three-engined jet airliner designed by de Havilland and built by Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s and 1970s...
2E (5B-DAB)) were destroyed on the ground by the Turkish Air ForceTurkish Air ForceThe Turkish Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It ranks 3rd in NATO in terms of fleet size behind the USAF and Royal Air Force with a current inventory of 798 aircraft .-Initial stages:...
during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
- On 22 July 1974, 33 people were killed when 20 ageing NordNord AviationNord-Aviation was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. It was created on October 1, 1954 upon the acquisition of SFECMAS by SNCAN...
Noratlas and 10 C-47 DakotasC-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
, of the 354 Transport Squadron "Pegasus", were assigned to transport a GreekGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
commando force to protect the airport from invading TurksTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. This operation was named Operation NIKI (victory) Lt. Gen (ret) George Mitsainas "Hellenic Wings at Cyprus", ISBN: 960-630-182-6, Athens 2004.
External links
- http://www.kypros.org/CyprusPanel/cyprus/nytimes.html
- http://www.kypros.org/Cyprus_Problem/p_latestdevelop.html
- http://www.cyprusairports.com.cy/showpage.php?PageID=232