Inside The Airport Abandoned Since 1974

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• published: 06 Jan 2016
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It's stood abandoned for more than four decades. And to step inside its once gleaming terminal building is to step back in time. There's something particularly eerie - and fascinating - about once bustling places that are now devoid of people. And the UN buffer zone that stretches for 110 miles across Cyprus is one such place. For 41 years this strip of land has been frozen, left as it was in 1974 when the island was left divided by inter-communal conflict. Nicosia International Airport is perhaps one of the most evocative symbols of that division. Inside the fixtures and fittings have gone, but everything else remains. The advertising hoardings, passport booths, and baggage carousel are still here. The departure lounge, with its 1960s furniture, transports you back in time. Strangely, given why its now abandoned, it has the feeling of a different, simpler world. The architecture is crisp, elegant and filled with light. There's no evidence of the x-ray scanners and security we all now face every time we fly. It has the feeling of a more optimistic, simpler time. Above the passport booth there's a sign simply saying 'Cypriots' - a throwback to the days when this island's two communities existed as one. In its heyday the apron here would hum to the sound of Cyprus Airways' planes bringing sun-seeking tourists. Now just one remains - in the corner of the airfield stands the shell of a Trident Sunjet. Its engines were stripped in the midst of the 1974 crisis to repair another aircraft so it could be flown out to safety. Nicosia International Airport began life as an RAF station and was used heavily during the Second World War. In 1960, when Cyprus gained independence, it was handed over to the island's government and became its only international airport. The RAF continued to occupy part of the site and retained the right to use it in an emergency. In 1968 a new terminal was built by German firm Dorsh Gruppe and the airport began to welcome a growing stream of passengers. But in July 1974 all that changed. After Greek National Guard officers staged a coup d'etat Turkish forces began air raids on the airport. Fighting around the airfield was particularly fierce. Two empty Cyprus Airways airliners were destroyed on the ground by the Turkish Air Force jets, and Greek commandos were sent in to bolster the Greek Cypriot forces. Eventually UN troops - including some British soldiers - were sent in to occupy the airport. When the cease fire lines were drawn in August 1974 the airport was included inside the buffer zone, where it's remained ever since. In the 1990s attempts were made to reopen the airport for the benefit of both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, but no agreement could be reached and it's stood unused ever since. Would it ever be used again? During the height of the financial crisis ambitious plans were floated to turn the airfield into an international business park, to try and attract inward investment. But nothing came of them. With intense negotiations now underway between the two sides of Cyprus to try and find a solution to the so-called 'Cyprus Problem', its future will undoubtedly be up for discussion. But Cyprus now has two other international airports at Larnaca and Paphos. And bringing Nicosia up to standard again would cost millions. So for now it remains in limbo as time and weather take their toll. Black and white pictures: Press Information Office of the Republic of Cyprus Subscribe to Forces TV HERE http://bit.ly/1OraazC Check out our website: http://forces.tv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForcesTV Twitter: https://twitter.com/Forces_TV