Ercan International Airport


Ercan International Airport is the primary civilian airport of Northern Cyprus, a country solely recognised by Turkey. It is located about east of North Nicosia, near the village of Kirklar.
Flights to the airport are banned internationally. Non-stop flights only take place from Turkey, and all planes that fly to Northern Cyprus from other countries have to stop over in Turkey.
Because of these difficulties and inconveniences, the majority of Turkish Cypriots with Republic of Cyprus passports prefer to use Larnaca International Airport, which is located in the internationally-recognised, government-controlled part of Cyprus; this option is not available, however, to Turkish settlers.

History

The precursor of Ercan Airport, Tymvou Airport, was constructed by the British in World War II as a military airport, during their colonial rule of the island. Following the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and the partition of the island it was occupied by the Turkish army, and today it is used as the main civilian airport of Northern Cyprus.
Since 2006, the rule which stipulates that flights are required to touch down at a Turkish airport before continuing to and from Ercan has been under discussion. In 2006, the Turkish government began discussions for Northern Cyprus's main port Famagusta, and main civilian airport Ercan, to be able to operate direct connections, with the UK government describing it as a "significant and creative offer".
However, as of 2017, the rule still applies, and Ercan airport has seen a more than 400% decrease in customers, as a result of new tight security measures imposed by the UK Department for Transport questioning the status of the airport and forcing passengers travelling between Britain and Northern Cyprus to disembark with their luggage and go through a fresh security check in Turkey in order to board a new aircraft for their final destination.
Recent plans have arisen to privatise Ercan Airport, as well as plans to enlarge the airport in order to increase capacity. Ercan Airport currently has a 2.5 kilometre-long runway and an apron with a capacity of seven aircraft. Although the runway is long enough for large planes to land, it is not long enough for take-offs. The plan is for the construction of a new runway, apron and terminal building, with the planned new apron doubling the current plane capacity.
A new terminal is currently under construction. It will be much larger than the existing and have 9 airbridges. A new runway is also being constructed alongside the existing one.

Airlines and destinations

Due to the disputed international status of Northern Cyprus there are no non-stop scheduled flights between Ercan and destinations outside of Turkey. However, several airlines operate direct flights from Ercan to Europe with intermediate stops in Turkey.