Larnaca International Airport

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Larnaca International Airport
Διεθνές Aεροδρόμιο Λάρνακας
IATA: LCA - ICAO: LCLK
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Cyprus Dept of Civil Aviation
Serves Larnaca
Elevation AMSL 8 ft (2 m)
Coordinates 34°52′30″N, 33°37′29″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 9,776 2,980 Asphalt


Larnaca International Airport (Greek: Διεθνές Aεροδρόμιο Λάρνακας) (IATA: LCA, ICAO: LCLK) is an international airport located at Larnaca, Cyprus. Larnaca airport is Cyprus' main international gateway, the largest of the Republic of Cyprus' two commercial airports. It has a single passenger terminal, consisting of two large main terminal buildings, and a larger rear building housing the arrivals hall.

The current airport consists of a single large apron for all aircraft. The current terminal has no boarding bridges, and all passengers are taken by bus to and from the terminal. This is to change when the new airport is completed. The airport also possesses a large engineering hangar, cargo terminal, and other facilities including airfuel and provision for light aircraft.

Contents

Larnaca Airport was hastily developed at the end of 1974 after the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey in the summer of the same year and the enforced closure of Nicosia International Airport. The site on which it was built had been previously used as an airfield by the British in the 1930's. The airport opened in February 1975 as a prefabricated set of buildings comprising a departures and arrivals hall and a control tower. The first airline to use the new airport was Cyprus Airways which operated Viscount 800s leased from British Midland. The initial runway was too short for jet aircraft. Cyprus Airways pre-existing fleet of Hawker Siddeley Trident 1 and 2s had been destroyed on the ground at Nicosia Airport by Turkish Air Force bombings. The second operator to start flights to Larnaca was Olympic Airways using NAMC YS-11s.

Larnaca Airport is often used as a hub by passengers traveling between Europe and the Middle East, and Cyprus's status as a major tourist destination means that numbers have steadily risen to over 5 million passengers a year. This is double the capacity the airport was first designed for. As such, a tender was put out in 1998 to develop the airport further increasing its capacity (see below). Already completed elements of the expansion include a new control tower, fire station, runway extension, and additional administrative offices. A new road link has also been completed. The terminal itself will be rebuilt some 500-700m West of current facilities, adjacent to the new control tower, with new aprons and jet ways. The old terminal building is slated to be partially demolished and refurbished as a cargo centre. The Concept Architectural design was developed by French Architects at Aéroports de Paris with SOFREAVIA in France. Detail and Tender design was carried out in Cyprus with local Architectural Office FORUM ARCHITECTS and a large engineering team under the coordination of ADP. A large amount of controversy spurred by the local media surrounded the granting of the contract when it was put out to tender. A consortium led by BAA and J&P construction quickly pulled out when it did not receive assurances from the Cypriot Government that it would receive financial compensation in the event that Direct Flights were allowed between the Turkish occupied north of the island and the rest of the world. The contract was eventually hastily granted to the next best bidder, the French led 'Hermes' Consortium. This too, was not free of controversy, causing legal challenges by BAA and J&P, and adding further delays to a much needed project.

A €650m upgrade of Larnaca and Paphos airports has started[1] and represents Cyprus's first Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project. The international tender was won by Hermes Airports, a French-led group. The consortium is made up of Bouygues Batiment International (22%) Egis Projects (20%), the Cyprus Trading Corporation (a local retail group-10%), Iacovou Brothers (a local contractor-10%), Hellenic Mining (10%), Vancouver Airport Services (10%), Ireland's Aer Rianta International (10%), Charilaos Apostolides (a local construction company-5%) and Aeroport Nice (3%).

Hermes is to build new passenger terminals and extend the runways at both airports under a 25-year concession. Larnaca’s first phase (due for completion in 2008) will serve 7.5m passengers a year.The arrivals hall was expanded in February 2006 adding two luggage belts bringing the total up to six, a smoking area, and a larger lounge. This was done as a 'stopgap' measure to better enable the airport to handle passengers until a new terminal is completed on a nearby site.


A second phase, due to be completed in 2013, provides for the expansion of the terminal to cater for 9m passengers a year, and for a 500m runway extension. The design for the new 98,000 m2 Larnaca terminal includes 16 boarding bridges and is intended to reflect the proportions of a medieval aqueduct located in the city.[2][3]

  • On 19 February 1978 Larnaca airport was the scene of a 1 hour battle between Egyptian antiterrorist forces and the Cypriot National Guard. The crisis had began the previous day when Youssef Sebai, the editor of a prominent Egyptian newspaper and friend of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, was assassinated at the Nicosia Hilton by two gunmen. PLO activists then hijacked a Cyprus Airways DC-8 plane taking several hostages. Egypt dispatched its entire antiterrorist squad aboard a Hercules C-130 to deal with the hijacking without however, the authority of the Cypriot government. On landing in Larnaca the commandos launched an all-out assault on the DC8 even as Cypriot negotiators had secured the hostage-takers' surrender. Cypriot President Spyros Kyprianou and other senior officials observing events were forced to retreat from the airport control tower after it was hit by bullets. The crisis ended after the Cypriot National Guard overpowered the Egyptian commandos. Out of the anti-terrorist unit of 74 Egyptian commandos, 15 were killed. There were no Cypriot fatalities. President Kyprianou offered reconciliation and apologies but maintained that Cyprus could not have allowed the Egyptians to act. Frosty diplomatic relations between Nicosia and Cairo persisted for some time. Two Palestinian hijackers were swiftly prosecuted. They received death sentences, later reduced to life imprisonment.[5][6]
  • On 5 April 1988 a Kuwait Airlines Boeing 747 (Kuwait Airways Flight 422) was hijacked, while en route from Thailand to Kuwait. After flying to Iran the hijackers forced the crew to fly the plane to Algeria but the plane landed in Larnaca for refuelling. Two Kuwaiti hostages were executed by the hijackers and dropped on the airport’s runway. The hijacking ended in Algeria on April 20, 1988. [7]

  1. ^ Foundation stone laid at new Larnaca Airport (English). Financial Mirror (2006-06-26). Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
  2. ^ CTC: Agreement between Hermes Airports and Cyprus Gov't for the development of airports- Report by the Cyprus Stock exchange. July 11, 2005 [1]
  3. ^ AIRPORTS: Anxious to improve visitors' first impressions - Financial Times December 19, 2006 [2]
  4. ^ "Terror and Triumph at Mogadishu", Time Magazine, Oct. 31, 1977. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  5. ^ Rescuing Nationals Abroad Through Military Coercion and Intervention on Grounds of Humanity by Ronzitti, Natalino (p.40-41) Published 1985 by Martinus Nijhoff ISBN 9024731356
  6. ^ Political Terrorism: Theory, Tactics and Counter-Measures, by Grant Wardlow (Page 60) 1989 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521368413
  7. ^ Terrorism Nightmare on Flight 422 - Murder and zealotry meet in a jumbo jet, Time Magazine, Monday, Apr. 25, 1988 [3]

International Airports in Cyprus
Paphos International Airport | Larnaca International Airport | Nicosia International Airport | Ercan International Airport
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