Fly K?br?s Airlines has made its first flight, taking off from Ercan Airport in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus early on Sunday morning carrying government ministers, tourism sector professionals and Turkish Cypriot media to Istanbul Airport in Turkiye.

Fly K?br?s Airlines has made its first flight, taking off from Ercan Airport in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus early on Sunday morning carrying government ministers, tourism sector professionals and Turkish Cypriot media to Istanbul Airport in Turkiye.

The airline then welcomed its first paying guests, who boarded its A320 Airbus aircraft for a flight back to Ercan, which departed Istanbul at 10am local time on Sunday, 16 April.

Turkish Cypriot officials stated on Tuesday that the new airline will create an important boost for the north’s tourism and creates a new bridge to Turkey.

The airline is expected to have four scheduled links per week, two to and from Istanbul, a return to Ankara and a return to Izmir. More connections to other Turkish cities are expected soon.

Those on board included Rauf Denkta?, who sits on the airline’s board of directors, the TRNC’s Transport Minister Erhan Ar?kl? and Tourism Minister Fikri Atao?lu, and former TRNC Tourism Minister and Democrat Party leader Serdar Denkta? (also Rauf’s father).

Launching with the slogan “Cyprus is now closer to everywhere” [‘K?br?s art?k her yere daha yak?n’], Fly K?br?s Airlines (FlyKhy) is the TRNC’s first privately-owned airline.

The country has been without an airline since the demise of the state-owned Cyprus Turkish Airlines (KTHY), which was founded in 1974 but went bust in 2010.

At FlyKhy’s launch event at Ercan Airport last month, airline director and founding partner Rauf Denkta?, the grandson of the TRNC’s founding President Rauf Denkta?, said that Turkish Cypriots “now have” their own airlines again.

He described FlyKhy as “the people’s airline”, before unveiling the name of its first aircraft, Melekler Tak?m? [Team of Angels], the legacy name created to remember the Turkish Cypriot school party of 35 who tragically died in the earthquake in Ad?yaman, Turkiye, in February.

“With its competitive pricing policy and its contribution to the freedom of travel of our [Turkish Cypriot] society, and its contribution to our [TRNC] economy with the tourists it will bring to our country, Fly K?br?s Airlines will become the people’s airline,” Denkta? stated in March.

Initially, FlyKhy will operate daily between the TRNC and Turkiye, with flights to Izmir, Ankara, Antalya, and Istanbul.

From May, the airline will also operate charter flights to Amman (Jordan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Erbil (Kurdistan Region of Iraq), and Pristina (Kosova), and grow its network of destinations in Turkiye.

 

Ercan Airport

Fly K?br?s brings the total number of airlines regularly flying to Ercan Airport to four, with Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, and Anadolu Jet the other three airlines with scheduled flights to the TRNC.

Due to the international isolation of North Cyprus – at the insistence of Greek Cypriots – Ercan Airport currently only has direct flights from Turkiye. Ercan handles around 4 million passengers each year, making it the second largest airport on the island of Cyprus.

With the number of airlines and passengers growing, Ercan Airport is set to open a new state-of-the-art terminal to accommodate more and larger aircraft.

Although the construction was delayed by several years due to financial problems, the new and ultra-modern terminal was scheduled to open in November 2022, before facing yet more delays. There had been hopes the new Ercan would welcome its first passengers for Ramazan Bayram? this weekend, but officials have said the airport is still not ready. It is, however, expected to open ahead of the busy summer season.

UPDATE 24/07/2023

The new terminal at the Ercan Airport, finally opened in July 2023, will surely be Northern Cyprus`s window to the world. The 450 million euro expansion would raise the facility's annual passenger capacity close to 10 million.

Due to the international isolation of Northern Cyprus Ercan Airport, located about 13 kilometers east of the capital city Nicosia, currently only has direct flights from Turkiye. But like Turkish President Erdogan said at the official opening in July, this will surely change - it is expected that international flights will be coming to the new airport in the near future.

The island will witness a transformative change with the upgraded facility and its cutting-edge terminal building. Ercan Airport is set to accommodate wide-body aircraft, thanks to its expanding capabilities and facilities. The new runway stretches an impressive 3,100 meters (10,170 feet), surpassing the previous one's length of 2,755 meters.

Moreover, the new airport boasts an ample parking area, accommodating up to 30 aircraft. Among its new features, an indoor parking lot capable of holding 1,500 vehicles will be available, equipped with state-of-the-art technology. These enhancements are anticipated to play a significant role in bolstering the country's tourism sector and overall economy.

Several test flights have been completed and a plane carrying a Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan performed the first landing at the airport on Thursday, the 20th of July 2023. President Erdogan inaugurated the expanded international airport serving the capital of the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), which is said to become the country's "window to the world."

With a new Airport and a new Airline, there is definitely a very bright future for Northern Cyprus.