Nicosia International Airport: Abandoned in the Crossfire of the Cyprus Conflict

What was once the travel hub of the Mediterranean quickly became an abandoned airport that had to be protected by the United Nations. Nicosia International Airport went from expanding and adopting new innovations and luxuries to a hollow, bird waste-infested facility in less than 10 years. Today, it sits relatively empty and is still protected by the UN.

It began as a military airport

Nicosia International Airport was built in the 1930s while the island of Cyprus was still under British control. It was known as RAF Nicosia and largely acted as a military airport until after the Second World War. The first terminal building was constructed in 1949.

Panoramic view of the terminal building at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images). A close-up view of the sign of the terminal building at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images).

When Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960, the Royal Air Force slowly withdrew their operations, and by 1968, RAF Nicosia was renamed Nicosia International Airport. Following their withdrawal, Britain contributed a large sum of money to fund the building of a new terminal that was designed by the West German company Dorsch und Gehrmann.

A new terminal brought plenty of foot traffic

The new terminal became a major transport hub that offered visitors high-tech facilities, shopping, restaurants, and more. Cyprus thus saw a boost in tourism and trade. By 1973, the airport had served nearly 800,000 passengers.

Interior of the derelict terminal building at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images). Advertising billboard at the abandoned airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images).

The conflict in Cyprus breaks out

Tensions on the island between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority were on the rise in the early 1970s and had reached their pinnacle in July 1974 when the government of Greece sponsored an attempt to overthrow the elected president of Cyprus. In response, Turkey supplied military intervention and gained control of a large portion of the island.

Bird droppings cover seats in the departure lounge inside the old Nicosia airport terminal building, now located within the UN-controlled buffer zone that separates the Turkish-occupied north from the south of Cyprus, on September 14, 2010. (Photo Credit: MONA BOSHNAQ / AFP / Getty Images) The passenger departure area at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images). The health control station inside the derelict terminal at the closed Nicosia International Airport in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Dickelbers / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0)

At this point, Nicosia International Airport had become a main target of the Turkish army, which had already performed multiple airstrikes and ground attacks on the island. For the safety of both passengers and workers, all commercial activity was brought to a halt and the airport was abandoned. Tourists on holiday and foreign nationals had to scramble to escape the dangerous situation in Cyprus.

Shattered glass litters the floor in front of check-in counters at the decaying Nicosia International Airport, on March 17, 2009. (Photo Credit: JIHAN AMMAR / AFP / Getty Images) A photo taken from behind barbed wire on January 27, 2022 shows a hall at the abandoned Nicosia airport in the UN-protected zone of the divided Cypriot capital.(Photo Credit: MARIO GOLDMAN / AFP / Getty Images) The former baggage claim hall at Nicosia International Airport stands decaying inside the buffer zone on the southern, Greek side of the divided city on March 7, 2017 in Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo Credit: Sean Gallup / Getty Images)

The airport is protected by the United Nations

Eventually, the United Nations intervened in the conflict in August 1974, and declared Nicosia International Airport part of the UN Demilitarized Buffer Zone, protected by the UN’s Peacekeeping Force. Even today, the airport remains protected by the UN, as no reunification agreement has been able to be reached between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

A dilapidated Cyprus Airways Trident 2E aircraft sits on the tarmac of the abandoned Nicosia airport in the UN-protected buffer zone of the divided Cypriot capital on January 27, 2022. (Photo Credit: MARIO GOLDMAN / AFP / Getty Images) A dilapidated Cyprus Airways Trident 2E aircraft sits on the tarmac of the abandoned Nicosia airport in the UN-protected buffer zone of the divided Cypriot capital on January 27, 2022. (Photo Credit: MARIO GOLDMAN / AFP / Getty Images) The shell of the airplane at the abandoned Nicosia International Airport on April 28, 2016, in Nicosia, Cyprus. All that is left is the shell of the airplane, as the rest of the plane’s key features have been gutted out for years. (Photo Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images).

The very last flight at the airport was in 1977 when British engineers flew out three Cyprus Airways aircraft that had been stranded there in the 1974 invasion. One airplane remains on the tarmac following the outbreak of the conflict, the hollow frame abandoned after its parts were stripped to repair another jet for flight.

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Three new airports were constructed to accommodate travel following the closure of Nicosia International Airport: Paphos International Airport, Larnaca International Airport, and Ecran International Airport. It is therefore unlikely that any restoration will be made to Nicosia.