Despite its relatively small size, the island state of Cyprus has several airports at once. At the moment, Cyprus has 2 international airports (Larnaca and Paphos), as well as military airfields in Dhekelia and Akrotiri.
The official opening of the largest renovated airport in the country took place on November 7, 2009 in the city of Larnaca. In its original form, it was built back in 1975 after the occupation of Nicosia airport by the Turks. And if the old airport occupied only 25,000 square meters. m., then the new Larnaca International Airport is located on an area of almost 100,000 sq. m. The annual passenger traffic is about 8 million people.
The Paphos airport serves charter flights from all over the world. It concedes its territory to Larnaca, but performs no less important functions for a country whose economy is seriously tied to the tourism business. The Paphos airport building is in perfect harmony with the architecture of the ancient city. Therefore, the walls of the airport are decorated with mosaics and images of the flora and fauna of the island, there are columns inside the building, and the statue of Aphrodite sees off the guests of the city. It is worth noting the fact that the construction of this airport used materials produced after recycling aluminum, paper and other waste, and almost no mirrors and metal were used. Thus, the builders paid tribute to the ecology of the island. The airport's maximum traffic is approximately 2.7 million people per year.
The Akrotiri military airfield is located in the south of Limassol. It is intended exclusively for military aviation. It houses the British air force. There are regular training sessions for special forces, helicopter and airplane pilots. By the way, not far from this military base, there are places loved by divers, and just a kilometer away is the popular Ladies Mile beach. Northeast of Larnaca is another British military base with the Dhekelia airfield. Next to it is the UN buffer zone, which divides the island into Greek and Turkish parts. Trainings and exercises are regularly held here, in addition, aerial vehicles take off from here, taking part in various shows.
