Authorities at Paphos International Airport instructed staff to return to their posts and resume flight schedules, just hours after a total terminal evacuation had been ordered on Monday.
The evacuation was a direct response to authorities identifying “hostile targets” in the flight path shared by the airport and the nearby British Sovereign Base Area (SBA).
While the terminal is reopening, a “shelter in place” order remains in effect for the neighbouring communities of Timi, Acheleia, and Mandria, where local authorities are overseeing emergency safety protocols for residents and schoolchildren.
Despite the reopening of Paphos Airport, a spokesperson for Hermes Airports told in-cyprus that easyJet and the Lufthansa Group—including Austrian Airlines, Edelweiss, and Lufthansa—have already cancelled their rotations from the UK, Munich, Vienna, and Zurich for the remainder of the day.
The rapid shifts in the security landscape were highlighted at midday when the SBA Administration expanded its emergency evacuation to include the Dhekelia Base. Within minutes, British fighter jets scrambled from Akrotiri to intercept a “live air threat,” while sirens sounded. The Interior Ministry subsequently ordered the mandatory evacuation of Akrotiri.
The Ministry of Interior has indicated that further announcements will be issued should the threat level fluctuate. In the village of Timi, Deputy Mayor George Polykarpou described a “difficult hour” as authorities rushed to help parents and pupils from the Regional Primary School return to their homes under the shelter directive.
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