Ercan International Airport

Ercan International Airport
Ercan Uluslararası Havalimanı
Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Τύμβου
IATA: ECNICAO: LCEN [1]
ECN
Location of airport in Cyprus
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Northern Cyprus
Serves Nicosia north of the Green Line (the Turkish part) and also the whole of Northern Cyprus
Location Tymvou
Elevation AMSL 403 ft / 123 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11/29 9,038 2,755 Paved
16/34 5,905 1,800 Paved

Ercan International Airport [eɾˈdʒan] (IATA: ECNICAO: LCEN), Turkish: Ercan Uluslararası Havalimanı or Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Τύμβου, (IATA: ECNICAO: LCEN) is an airport in the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. However since the airport lies in an internationally unrecognized country, its status as an international airport is also unrecognized and the airport codes do not appear in the official IATA and ICAO lists.

It is located east of the Cypriot capital city of Nicosia near the village of Tymvou. Since 2006 the rule which stipulates that flights are required to touch down at a Turkish airport before continuing to/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".[2]

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 landing field and an apron with a capacity of seven aircraft, and, although the runway is long enough for large planes to land, it lacks the length for take-offs. The plan is for the construction of a new landing field, apron and terminal building, with the planned new apron doubling the current plane capacity.[3]

Contents

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. It was abandoned after the independence of Cyprus. Following the partition of Cyprus in to Turkish and Greek areas it was expanded and today it is used as the main civilian airport of Northern Cyprus.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Atlasjet Adana, Ankara, Istanbul-Atatürk, İzmir, London-Stansted [begins 7 April], Manchester [begins 7 April], Tehran-İmam Khomeini
Corendon Airlines Brussels
Corendon Dutch Airlines Amsterdam
Onur Air Istanbul-Atatürk, Trabzon
Seasonal: London-Stansted, Manchester
Pegasus Airlines Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, London-Stansted, Manchester
Pegasus Airlines
operated by IZair
İzmir
Sky Airlines Antalya, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Tailwind Airlines Antalya
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk
Turkish Airlines
operated by AnadoluJet
Ankara, Hatay

References

  1. ^ Code in widespread use, including by the ICAO (e.g. here), however the code does not appear in an official ICAO List)
  2. ^ "Turkey "will open up to Cyprus"". [1]. 2006-12-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6216498.stm. 
  3. ^ "Northern Cyprus airport for sale". [2]. 2008. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/finance/10651015.asp?scr=1. 

External links