Ercan International Airport

Ercan International Airport (Turkish: Ercan Uluslararası Havalimanı pronounced [æɾˈdʒan uɫusɫaɾaɾaˈsɯ havalimaˈnɯ]) (IATA: ECN, ICAO: LCEN)[1] is the primary civilian airport of Northern Cyprus, a country solely recognised by Turkey. It is located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) east of North Nicosia, near the village of Kirklar.

Ercan Airport

Ercan Havalimanı
Αεροδρόμιο Ερτζάν Λευκωσίας/Τύμβου
Summary
Airport typePrivate
OwnerT&T Ercan Airport
OperatorT&T Ercan Airport
ServesNorthern Cyprus
LocationTymvou
Elevation AMSL403 ft / 123 m
Coordinates35°09′35″N 33°30′00″E
Websitewww.ercanairport.net
Map
ECN/LCEN
ECN/LCEN
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11/29 9,038 2,755 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Yearly Passengers4,000,000 [2]
Monthly Aircraft1,646 [3]

Flights to the airport are banned internationally.[4] Non-stop flights only take place from Turkey, and all planes that fly to Northern Cyprus from other countries have to stop over in Turkey.[5]

Because of these difficulties and inconveniences, the majority of Turkish Cypriots with Republic of Cyprus passports prefer to use Larnaca International Airport, which is located in the internationally-recognised, government-controlled part of Cyprus; this option is not available, however, to Turkish settlers.[6][7]

History
Check-in area

The precursor of Ercan Airport, Tymvou Airport, was constructed by the British in World War II as a military airport, during their colonial rule of the island. Following the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and the partition of the island into it was occupied by the Turkish army, and today it is used as the main civilian airport of Northern Cyprus.

Since 2006, the rule which stipulates that flights are required to touch down at a Turkish airport before continuing to and from Ercan has been under discussion. In 2006, the Turkish government began discussions for Northern Cyprus's main port Famagusta, and main civilian airport Ercan, to be able to operate direct connections, with the UK government describing it as a "significant and creative offer".[8]

However, as of 2017, the rule still applies, and Ercan airport has seen a more than 400% decrease in customers,[6] as a result of new tight security measures imposed by the UK Department for Transport questioning the status of the airport and forcing passengers travelling between Britain and Northern Cyprus to disembark with their luggage and go through a fresh security check in Turkey in order to board a new aircraft for their final destination.[6]

Recent plans have arisen to privatise Ercan Airport, as well as plans to enlarge the airport in order to increase capacity. Ercan Airport currently has a 2.5 kilometre-long runway and an apron with a capacity of seven aircraft. Although the runway is long enough for large planes to land, it is not long enough for take-offs. The plan is for the construction of a new runway, apron and terminal building, with the planned new apron doubling the current plane capacity.[9]

A new terminal is currently under construction. It will be much larger than the existing and have 9 airbridges. A new runway is also being constructed alongside the existing one.

Airlines and destinations

Due to the disputed international status of Northern Cyprus there are no non-stop scheduled flights between Ercan and destinations outside of Turkey. However, several airlines operate direct flights from Ercan to Europe with intermediate stops in Turkey.[4][5]

AirlinesDestinations
AnadoluJet Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Amsterdama
Pegasus Airlines Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir
SunExpress Izmir [10]
Turkish Airlines Ankara, Istanbul,[11][12] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen

References
  1. "LCEN" in widespread use, including by the ICAO (e.g. here) and FAA (e.g. here), however the code does not appear in an official ICAO List.
  2. "Ercan Havalimanı yolcu sayısı 4 milyonu aştı". www.airnewstimes.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  3. AB Haber News Site (link to the news article)
  4. "Students Flock to Universities in Northern Cyprus". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. "Europe diary: Island isolation". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  6. "Larnaca Airport bookings soar at expense of Ercan following UK air embargo – T-VINE". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  7. Larnaka, İstanbul’a bile Ercan’dan ucuzken
  8. "Turkey "will open up to Cyprus"". BBC News. 7 December 2006.
  9. "Northern Cyprus airport for sale". Hurriyet. 27 December 2008.
  10. Liu, Jim. "SunExpress S20 new routes as of 23DEC19". Routesonline. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. "Turkish Airlines to fully move to Istanbul New in late 4Q18". ch-aviation.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  12. "Timetable". turkishairlines.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.

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