Ercan International Airport
| Ercan Airport Ercan Havalimanı Lefkoşa Airport Αεροδρόμιο Λευκωσίας | |||||||||||
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| IATA: ECN – ICAO: LCEN[1] | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | private airport | ||||||||||
| Owner | T&T Ercan Airport | ||||||||||
| Operator | T&T Ercan Airport | ||||||||||
| Serves | Northern Cyprus | ||||||||||
| Location | Tymvou | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 403 ft / 123 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°09′35″N 33°30′00″E / 35.15972°N 33.50000°ECoordinates: 35°09′35″N 33°30′00″E / 35.15972°N 33.50000°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  ECN/LCEN | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (Nov 2012) | |||||||||||
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Ercan International Airport (Turkish: Ercan Uluslararası Havalimanı [eɾdʒan uɫusɫaɾaɾasɯ havalimanɯ]) (IATA: ECN, ICAO: LCEN)[1] is the primary civilian airport of Northern Cyprus. It is located about 13 km east of North Nicosia, near the village of Tymbou. Turkish and other airline booking sites commonly refer to this airport as Lefkoşa (Nicosia) Airport.
History
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. It was abandoned after the independence of Cyprus. Following the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus and the partition of the island into Turkish and Greek areas, it was expanded, 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".[3]
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.[4]
Airlines and destinations
Note: All regular international flights outside of Turkey are not non-stop; they require an intermediate landing at a Turkish airport. Therefore, some flights shown in this list might continue to another European destination under the same flight number.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AtlasGlobal | Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul-Atatürk, Izmir |
| Borajet | Adana, Antalya, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Hatay, Kayseri |
| Corendon Airlines | Antalya |
| Freebird Airlines | Antalya Seasonal charter: Amsterdam, Belgrade, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zürich |
| Onur Air | Istanbul-Atatürk, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep |
| Pegasus Airlines | Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir, Ordu-Giresun |
| Turkish Airlines | Adana, Ankara, Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen |
| Turkish Airlines operated by AnadoluJet | Ankara |
References
- 1 2 "LCEN" in widespread use, including by the ICAO (e.g. here), however the code does not appear in an official ICAO List.
- 1 2 AB Haber News Site (Link to the news article)
- ↑ "Turkey "will open up to Cyprus"". BBC News. 7 December 2006.
- ↑ "Northern Cyprus airport for sale". Hurriyet. 27 December 2008.
External links
Media related to Ercan International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Airport information for LCEN at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
- Airport information for LCEN at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- Current weather for LCEN at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for ECN at Aviation Safety Network