Nicosia airport
| Nicosia Airport Διεθνές Αεροδρόμιο Λευκωσίας Lefkoşa Uluslararası Havalimanı |
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | LCNC |
| IATA code | NIC |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 220 m (722 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 12 km west of Nicosia |
The international airport of Nicosia ( Greek Διεθνές Αεροδρόμιο Λευκωσίας , Turkish Lefkoşa Uluslararası Havalimanı ) was the only public airport in Cyprus . After its area was declared a UN protection zone during the Cyprus conflict in 1974 , the airport had to close.
history
The airfield Nicosia was used by the Royal Air Force since the 1930s, during the Second World War the runway was expanded by the company J&P . On September 24, 1947 Cyprus Airways took this on the regular service.
With the abandonment of various bases on the Suez Canal , in Iraq and Jordan, the Royal Air Force Station Nicosia , or RAF Nicosia for short , became an important base for the British Middle East Air Force at the end of the 1950s . Once the most important RAF station in the Middle East, it was abandoned in 1966 in favor of the newer Akrotiri airfield in one of the two Sovereign Base Areas .
Construction of the new terminal began in 1966; the Wiesbaden engineering firm Dorsch und Gehrmann , which had specialized in insulation against aircraft noise, was involved in the planning . The terminal was opened in 1968. However, already in the early 1970s the airport reached its capacity limits, so that expansion plans were presented in June 1974.
During the Cyprus conflict, the Turkish air forces destroyed two of Cyprus Airways' three Trident jets (the remains of one of the planes are still visible). A short time later, the airport was between the fronts in the Cyprus conflict and the UN declared it a UN protection zone . In the middle of the tourist season, Cyprus Airways lost both aircraft and base. A provisional airfield had to be prepared on a former military airfield in Larnaka, which opened in February 1975 and was later expanded into an airport.
Several talks to reopen the airport to civil air traffic have so far failed. Larnaka Airport took over its role as the international airport of the Republic of Cyprus , flights in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are handled from Ercan Airport.
On February 11, 2014, the leaders of the two ethnic groups ( Nikos Anastasiades and Derviş Eroğlu ) discussed the reunification of Cyprus on the grounds of the old Nicosia airport. The talks at this emblematic place took place under the auspices of the United Nations and were the first in over two years.
Incidents
- On April 20, 1967, a Bristol Britannia 313 of the Swiss Globe Air ( aircraft registration HB-ITB ) was flown into a hill four kilometers from the runway on the approach to Nicosia Airport. Of the 130 occupants, 126 were killed by this CFIT ( Controlled Flight into Terrain ) (see Nicosia aircraft disaster ).
- On July 22, 1974, a Nord Noratlas 2501D of the Greek Air Force (registration number 52-133) was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire while approaching Nicosia airport during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and crashed just 4 kilometers from the runway. Of the 32 inmates, 31 were killed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ "New talks to overcome the division of Cyprus started." , Article on Focus online on February 11, 2014
- ^ Accident report Britannia HB-ITB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on July 1, 2018.
- ↑ accident report Noratlas 52-133 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 6 of 2019.