Turkish military aircraft and drones have been repeatedly entering Cyprus airspace without coordinating with air traffic...

Turkish military aircraft and drones have been repeatedly entering Cyprus airspace without coordinating with air traffic control, raising fresh alarms over passenger safety near Larnaca and Paphos airports. The Flight Safety Foundation Southeast Europe-Cyprus went public with the warning this week, saying the incursions occur near major commercial flight routes and during airport approach sequences. The foundation said the activity puts unnecessary strain on air traffic controllers managing civilian traffic in the area. The alarm follows earlier concerns raised by the Cyprus Air Traffic Controllers' Union and the country's Department of Civil Aviation, according to the Cyprus News Agency. The fact that three separate aviation bodies have now flagged the same problem signals this is not an isolated incident. Turkish military assets entering the Nicosia Flight Information Region without coordination means civilian pilots and controllers are sharing airspace with unannounced military movements. International civil aviation rules require coordination for exactly this reason, to prevent mid-air incidents involving passenger aircraft. The foundation was careful to say that aviation safety within the Nicosia FIR remains at a high level overall. But the warning is clear: repeated violations of coordination procedures near busy commercial airports create risk that does not need to exist. #Cyprus #Turkey #AviationSafety