Ercan (?) Airport..Cyprus

[Tonic Please]

The family shall be flying out there in the last two weeks of July to Famagusta(?). Is it Cyprus/Turkish who fly there, because apparently you fly from either T1, or T2 at LHR....wait on the plane at Istanbul.......and then fly on to Ercan. I have recently been told that Ercan runway is being re-layed, and at the moment have to fly into military airbase.

Anyone know when Ercan is giong to be back in service?

Dan :D

[Tolsti]

Ercan is slated to re-open in April and so you should not be flying into Getikale although I understand that this facility has coped well.

I have sent you a private message re N Cyprus.

Great place, great people.....have fun

[Stud3]

Doubt you'll get anywhere near Famagusta mate! The turks took it off the Greek Cypriots back in the 70's as a sort of ransom over the on going dispute over the ownership of Cyprus.

Famagusta is a ghost town now(well was in March last year) and has been since the invasion. As far as i know the only way to get there is from the north, but i believe the turkish military aren't allowing anyone into Famagusta, even Turkish Cypriots.

We stood on the top of a watch tower on the Greek Cypriot side of the UN buffer zone and we could see famagusta and it was scary, like a war zone.

Would have been interesting to have seen it close up, have a walk around etc, but we only seen propaganda videos from the Greek Cypriots point of view about the invasion.

[Tolsti]

The Famagusta you are referring to is indeed split into 2 and one large part including many beachfront hotels and large churches are in the buffer zone into which no-one is allowed. However the other part of Famagusta (Gazimagusa) is alive and kicking as a trading centre and port. The road past the Post office and hospital just comes to an dead end at the beginning of the buffer zone.

[White Knight]

The part of Famagusta that is the ghost town is called Varosha, however northern Famagusta is alive and kicking - especially inside the old walled city.
You can also fly with THY Turkish airlines via IST. I think 2 or 3 flights a day to Ercan.