Azerbaijan airline to fly direct to northern Cyprus

A private Azeri airline called IMAIR will be the first airline to fly directly from Azerbaijan to the Ercan/Tymbou airport in northern Cyprus from the end of July, according to Turkish Cypriot news reports.

The first trial flights are due to take place on Wednesday July 27.

Airlines have avoided flying directly to northern Cyprus ever since the (de facto Greek Cypriot) government of the Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognised government of the whole island, declared all ports and airports in northern Cyprus closed.

Since then, all airlines have had to stop over in Turkey first, adding to the time and costs of flights.

Northern Cyprus receives only around half a million tourists per year, compared with over 2 million in the south.

Scheduled flights are expected to start from September.

Turkish Cypriots have been seeking ways of getting direct flights since the referendum to reunite the island in April of last year, which was rejected by around 76% of Greek Cypriots but accepted by around 65% of Turkish Cypriots.

The Cyprus problem has been in deep freeze ever since.

Greek Cypriots have been resisting direct flights to northern Cyprus at EU and other levels, fearing that it will lead to a de facto recognition of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Azerbaijan is a close ally of Turkey, which does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus.