Nicosia International Airport (NIC/LCNC) (Abandoned)

Cyprus / Government controlled area / Kato Deftera /
 airport, abandoned / shut down
This airport has been closed since 1974. Nicosia used to be the principal airport for Cyprus from its initial construction in the 1930s as the Royal Air Force station RAF Nicosia until 1974. Principally a military establishment at first, the RAF left the airfield in 1966 due to limited space brought on by vastly increasing civilian aircraft movements. As a result of the Turkish invasion in 1974, Turkey came to occupy 37% of the island, splitting Cyprus into a de facto Turkish-administered northern sector (see also: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) and the remaining southern areas controlled by the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. NIC lies directly in the United Nations controlled Buffer Zone separating the two areas. It has been inoperable since 1974 due to the continued state of belligerency between the two sides. Nicosia's two sectors (the Turkish North and the Greek South) are served by different and more recently opened airports: Ercan International Airport (ECN) for the north, and Larnaca International Airport (LCA) for the south. Due to the non-recognition of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", Ercan is not permitted by most countries to be a valid destination for a flight plan. The only international flights from Ercan are to Turkey. There have been some plans for NIC to be reopened under U.N. control as a goodwill measure, but so far neither the Greek nor the Turkish Cypriots have seriously pursued this option. The airport is currently under the control of UNFICYP, and serves as the force's headquarters. Parts of the runway and aircraft hangers are used by UN patrol helicopters whilst another part of the runway has been converted into a makeshift go-kart circuit for use by UN personnel stationed there.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJcUSEk9RkA
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicosia_International_Airport
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   35°9'7"N   33°16'31"E

Comments

  • The NIC is in the Buffer Zone and is controlled by the UN. I was based there for a year with the UN in 1999. At that time the only aircraft using it were the Argentinian Air Force with there UN helicopters. I used to go running on the airstrip. There is an old Cyprus Airways jet straddled with bullet hols on the apron and an old Liberator bomber used for fire practice. The terminal is left as it was in 1974.
  • A marvel of its time (archive article - Sunday, July 5, 2009) When it first opened Nicosia’s airport was a miracle of modern architecture that people would visit whether travelling or not. Today it stands empty except for the pigeons, an eerie reminder of what has been lost. ELENI ANTONIOU speaks to a photographer given a rare glimpse of it Nicosia airport was abandoned during the invasion of 1974. Since then few have had the opportunity to visit the once glamorous building now under UN control in the buffer zone and fewer have been given permission to photograph it. Orestis Lambrou is one of few. After spending a day at the deserted airport, he tells the story of a place frozen in time. In August last year Orestis, a 27-year old photographer and Goldsmith’s University student, was granted permission to spend a day at the capital’s airport. “I told them I was working on a project,” he says. “I am fascinated by abandoned buildings no matter where they are. The airport in Nicosia just happened to be the most fascinating in Cyprus because of its history. Not many airports in the world were simply abandoned especially ones that did not run their cycle.” NIC, as the airport was known, used to be the principal airport for Cyprus from its initial construction in the 1930s as the Royal Air Force station RAF Nicosia until 1974. At first it acted principally as a military airport. During WWII the airport’s facilities and runway were extended and American bombers used the runway in 1943-44 when returning from the allied bombings of Romanian oil fields. The RAF quit the airfield in 1966 due to limited space brought on by vastly increasing civilian aircraft movements. The purpose-built passenger terminal that stands empty today was completed in 1968 bringing the total of operating years to just six. The airport was, in all senses, brand new. www.cyprus-mail.com/news Click on "Search by Date" hyperlink.