The Flight Safety Foundation Southeast Europe-Cyprus (FSF-SE-Europe-Cyprus) has voiced strong concern and condemned repeated incursions by Turkish military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the Nicosia FIR, carried out without the required coordination with air traffic control authorities.
The statement follows recent press reports, a statement from the Cyprus Air Traffic Controllers’ Union, and remarks from the Department of Civil Aviation. The Foundation said such actions, particularly when carried out near critical flight routes and the approach areas of Larnaca and Paphos airports, create additional operational risks and unnecessarily strain the work of air traffic controllers, in breach of the principles and procedures governing the safe and coordinated management of international civil aviation.
The Foundation expressed “its full support and recognition” for air traffic controllers and the rest of the operational and technical staff at the Nicosia Area Control Centre and the control units at Larnaca and Paphos airports.
It said their high level of professional training, ongoing education and operational readiness, together with their professionalism, constant vigilance and rapid response to emergency or unusual situations, were decisive factors in maintaining Cyprus’s particularly high level of flight safety.
The Foundation also acknowledged the continuing efforts of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and the Department of Civil Aviation, at both operational and technical level, to continually upgrade systems and procedures and ensure the safe management of air traffic.
Despite the serious challenges posed by such actions, the Foundation said the level of aviation safety in the Nicosia FIR remains particularly high. Full compliance with international civil aviation rules and procedures, and ensuring the safety of flights and passengers, must remain a non-negotiable priority, it concluded.
(information from CNA)
