Nicosia Airport - RIP! Photo Gallery by Alexis Hadjisoteriou at pbase.com

photo sharing and upload

picture albums

photo forums

search pictures

popular photos

photography help

login

Alexis Hadjisoteriou | profile | all galleries >> Occupied North Cyprus >> Nicosia Airport - RIP!

tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Nicosia Airport - RIP!

Image151.jpg	Image152.jpg	Image153.jpg	Image154.jpg
Image155.jpg	Image157.jpg	Image158.jpg	Image159.jpg
Image160.jpg	Image161.jpg	Image163.jpg	Image164.jpg
Image165.jpg	Image166.jpg	Image168.jpg	Image169.jpg
Image171.jpg	Image173.jpg	Image174.jpg	Image176.jpg
Image177.jpg	Image180.jpg

comment |

Lefteris85gr		17-Apr-2012 07:12
@Gord Hockridge I am interested in your photos.... I would be grateful if you could send them to : Lefteris85gr@hotmail.com Thank You

Paul Narramore		21-Oct-2011 09:13
I was a draughtsman in the Royal Engineers and went out to Nicosia a couple of weeks after the Turkish invasion. We were billeted in nissan huts in the camp close to the airport and travelled each day to Camp UNFICYP a mile down the road. I remember occassionally eating in the Canadian Mess there where the food was lightyears better and our stuff. We were just about marooned in the place for six months and was only rarely loaned a car. The derelict airliners were still on the runways ans I remembered them, when we returned about twenty years ago.

Gord Hockridge		19-Sep-2011 00:55
I was a Canadian paratrooper at the Airport when the Turks wanted to take it in 1974. If you want pictures taken during the fighting and the aircraft, I can send them to you.

John Heymans		11-Mar-2010 16:41
Along with Ron Denham and more than 100 other Royals and 8th Hussars, I spent the winter of 1974-75 at Nicosia International Airport. We moved in early December 74 and after a period of cleaning up we created a comfortable home for ourselves for the next six months or so. These photos bring back a flood of memories, most good, as we had a successful deployment operationally, and a great time together. We worked hard and played hard and came home with the satisfaction that we had participated in a worthwhile operation. It was an honour to serve with such a loyal, capable group of officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men.

Hidayet Altin		22-Jan-2010 10:50
Dear Akexis, Thanks for the pictures, I want to know how I could visite this "airport", because I'm planning to go to Cyprus this year. The reason why I want to visite NIC is because I want to make an article for my aviation website. Hope you can help my with this ;) Yours sincerely, H. Altin

Ron Denham		08-Jan-2010 02:02
Ron from Toronto....I was with 1st Bn. The R.C.R. quartered at the Airport in 1975..we relieved The Cdn. Airborne late '74.When it appeared that there would be an attempt by the Turks to sieze the facility we were deployed,on orders from U.N. H.Q.,in a defensive posture on the airport perimeter.We had nothing heavier than our 81mm mortars,106mm a/tk rifles,and the 50's.The Turks were somewhat better armed than us...but they chose(wisely I think)not to attempt penetration of the perimeter.A beautiful country...a pity that this standoff can't be resolved.

Mike		14-Jul-2009 19:27
As a kid of 4 at the time when NIC ceased operations i do have memories from back then, dad used to take us there to watch the aircraft on Sunday afternoons. The memory stayed eversince. It must have been about 5 years ago when i got the chance to visit again on a work related issue at the UN offices (old airport). I managed to lose my way as, naturally, i had little to no memory of the route there and i bumped into the 'new' airport which at that time i had believed i was bound to see anyway! It is a time warp indeed, and a buffer zone or 'dead' zone as transalated from greek indeed. I got out of the car, in such a vast deserted area you could hear absolutely nothing! No birds, no sounds of nature, it was as if air was sucked out of that place. A surreal experience. But seeing it, the images in my mind came to life once again, just like i remembered it. A parking lot sign was still there and the stairs that led to spectators' terrace stood out from a distance. I drove past it and met the abandoned trident - i heared that Cyprus Airways made considerable efforts to regain it as an exhibition item but without success. Recently in Nicosia a photo exhibition by Orestis Lambrou was held, named "NIC". Several recent pictures (indoors and outdoors) were taken focusing on the architecture of the terminal and naturally i rushed to see it. Great work! Congrats for the pictures posted on the site too! Really enjoyed the pool of info and experiences here.

gary cleaver		06-Jun-2009 18:18
has anybody got any recent photos of the airport and surrounding areas???????? is the army camp still there opposite the main terminal?????

gary cleaver		06-Jun-2009 18:10
hi there, i had the pleasure of being in nicosia back in the early 1980s when i was with the army, the plane was in the hangar then and i did get the chance to board it and look around and as i remember it had been ransacked i also remember there was an abandoned bomber plane on the far side of the runway i would love to return there to see what it is like now

Neil Fergusson		26-Mar-2009 18:44
Adrian, reference your query regarding image 155.jpg, after some rooting around, it would appear to be a Chekoslovakian airlines Tupolev airliner. It crashed on landing in August 1973, and a local entrepreneur bought the remains, which were reasonably intact at that time, apart from the port wing having been torn off during the crash. The local then managed to obtain the services of the RAF crash team from Akrotiri to lift the aircraft by air bags onto 2 home made trolleys around December of that year. The owner of the aircraft then attempted to tow it across country to a location a couple of km's from the airport to set it up as a novelty restaurant/ bar. After getting into difficulties, it was left in situ for some months until the Turkish invasion in July 1974. It then succumbed to rocket/ mortar fire during the heavy fighting around the airport. The vehicle beside it is believed to be the actual vehicle which attempted to pull it. It is an old Standard pick up truck, the bonnet badge of which is still in one piece!

Constantinos Pegos		10-Mar-2009 14:23
Óõã÷áñçôçñéá ãéá ôéò öùôïãñáöéåò..Å÷ù õðçñåôçóåé óôçí ÅËÄÕÊ ôï äéáóôçìá 1994-1995 êáé ôï åãêáôåëåéìåíï áåñïäñïìéï çôáí êáôé ôï ïðïéï çèåëá íá äù áðï êïíôá....Ðñáãìáôéêá èá ôï çèåëá ðïëõ....Åéäá ôï ÷ùñï áíáìïíçò êáé ðñáãìáôéêá áíáôñé÷éáóá. Óáí íá âëåðåéò ôéò óéëïõåôåò íá ôñéãõñíáíå áíáìåóá...Áêïìá êé åêåéíç ç äéáöçìéóç ôçò SEIKO ðïõ öáéíåôáé óå ìéá ãùíéá. Åêðëçêôéêï...ãõñéæåéò 40 ÷ñïíéá ðéóù! Êþóôáò, Èåóóáëïíßêç

Adrian Johns		11-Feb-2009 18:25
Great pictures - I was a guest of Cyprus between 1992 and 1998. I was once shown around the airport by the UN. I wasn't allowed to take any photos so have no record of my visit. The pictures are exactly how I remember it. I was amazed to see picture image155.jpg which shows a small plane that apparently crashed during takeoff. Exactly when I don't know - The picture shows a small jeep or truck next to it - which I was told was some poor guy who drove over a mine in an attempt to salvage some airplane parts. The plane and jeep have never been moved. How true that is I don't know, but if you look closely you can still make out the jeep. Perhaps someone can confirm.

Guest		23-Jun-2008 13:46
i lived on the base from 1991/1993 and the aircraft was out there then good to see the pics brings back alot of memories.

guest		16-May-2008 16:49
Can remember landing at the old air port in 1962 and the development of the new one. Took off from here a few times in a Cyprus Airways Trident, may well have been the one shown! happy memories of the area, when I was a teenager a group of us used to go to the airport for a drink. Great to see the pictures but what a shame to see it like that

Colin		15-May-2008 19:35
That brought back many memories. I used to fly Tridents into and out of Nicosia in the 60s & early 70s. I was always a challenge in the summer months

Rob		19-Apr-2008 05:05
Hi I worked in cyprus 90/91.for a holiday company. Found the whole thing fascinating. Photos are excerlant. So please with this site.

Guest		10-Apr-2008 13:28
Fantastic photos! I visited Nicosia on a work trip for a week a couple of years ago. I bet if you spend your vacation on a beach you won't notice anything but in Nicosia the past (and current) conflict signs are everywhere.

Guest		30-Mar-2008 16:34
Those photos are fantastic, i remeber driving past the airport last year and seeing the tridents on the ramp, its incredible, like a time warp. Does anyone know the destinations or aircraft movements that went from this airport?

Guest		22-Feb-2008 15:26
Jiries I'm not sure how they got it out, it is definatly the same aircraft though. I'm sure they probably brought a tow truck of some sort and yarded it out. I do remember clearly walking into that hanger with some colleagues as we were using the airport for Firefighter training for the British Gazelle Helicopters that were there. The officer with us showed it to us. I don't believe I was ever in the terminal though. TEC

Guest		22-Feb-2008 15:21

Guest		05-Feb-2008 23:55
Hi Tec, how they can drag the aircraft outside as their wheels are flat and rusty which can break off easily after sitting there for many years. They took all the doors off and no pictures of what it like inside the aircraft which would be amazing to see it.

TEC		04-Jan-2008 20:13
I was stationed in the Blue Beret camp with the Canadian contingent UN in 1988/89. This although mostly un-newsworthy, was also a very tumultuous time on the island. A lot of rioting and fighting and we were always in the middle of it being in control of the buffer around Nicosia. The Blue Beret Camp at that time was located just outside this airport on the edge of Nicosia. We used to run on this tarmac for PT in the morning. (Talk about hot.) This aircraft was actually sitting in a hanger when I was there, so someobody has since moved it outside. I will never forget my tour of Cyprus, and seeing this aircraft bullet riddled, to me for some reason was one of the most salient memories of the tour. Does anybody know, is this section of the Buffer zone British now? I know we pulled out years ago. What a place. I'll never forget it.

Guest		16-Nov-2007 09:34
How did you get these pictures, I thought this is off limits?

Jiries		30-Oct-2007 18:03
All my life I wanted to see the close up of the airport and especially the interior ones which is my first time ever to see it fully, really sad to see everything ruined and bird mess infected the unique departure lounge seat type compare to today modern seating types. I find the design of the building outside and the letters holders above very impressive, they were very beautiful when it was open and heard that you able to watch the planes from the balcony, these are banned on today modern airports. Very sad to see the abandoned plane, did you have any chance to take pictures inside the plane? god know what it like! I had passed through this wonderful airport back in 1973 as a baby and I used to keep asking my parents about what it like the airport inside but they can't remember well. Thanks so much for the pictures and great to have Internet age to get all the access nowadays.

��		05-Jul-2007 07:02
ÌÐÑÁÂÏ ÁËÅÎÇ, ÓÕÃ×ÁÑÇÔÇÑÉÁ! ÊÁÔÁÖÅÑÅÓ ÍÁ "ÎÅÐÁÃÙÓÅÉÓ" ÓÔÇ ÌÍÇÌÇ ÌÏÕ ÅÉÊÏÍÅÓ ÁÐÏ ÅÍÁ ×ÙÑÏ ÐÑÏÓÖÉËÇ ÓÔÁ ÐÁÉÄÉÊÁ ÌÏÕ ×ÑÏÍÉÁ ÏÔÁÍ, 6 ×ÑÏÍÙÍ ÔÏÔÅ, ÅÊÏÂÁ ÂÏËÔÅÓ ÓÔÏÕÓ ÓÔÏÉ×ÅÉÙÌÅÍÏÕÓ ÓÇÌÅÑÁ ×ÙÑÏÕÓ ÔÏÕ ÁËËÏÔÅ ÊÁËÕÔÅÑÏÕ ÁÅÑÏÄÑÏÌÉÏÕ ÔÇÓ ÌÅÓÇÓ ÁÍÁÔÏËÇÓ... ÅÉÌÁÉ ÌÏÍÉÌÏÓ ÊÁÔÏÉÊÏÓ ÁÈÇÍÁÓ ÅÄÙ ÊÁÉ ÐÏËËÁ ×ÑÏÍÉÁ ÁËËÁ ÏÉ ÌÍÇÌÅÓ ÔÇÓ ÐÁÉÄÉÊÇÓ ÇËÉÊÉÁÓ ÅÉÍÁÉ ÁÍÅÎÉÔÇËÅÓ. ÄÅ ÌÏÕ ËÅÓ, ÖÙÔÏÃÑÁÖÉÅÓ ÁÐÏ ÔÇÍ ÅÉÓÏÄÏ ÔÏÕ ÁÅÑÏÄÑÏÌÉÏÕ ÅÂÃÁËÅÓ; ÁÍ ÈÕÌÁÌÁÉ ÇÔÁÍ ÅÍÔÕÐÙÓÉÁÊÇ, ÌÅ ÊÁÔÉ ÓÕÍÔÑÉÂÁÍÉÁ ÙÑÁÉÁ, ÖÙÔÉÆÏÌÅÍÁ ÔÏ ÂÑÁÄÕ.

click on thumbnails for full image