Eerie images reveal the remains of Nicosia International Airport, where planes have been left to rot since the site was abandoned in 1974.
The once-bustling transport hub, located in the Lakatamia suburb west of Nicosia, Cyprus, now stands as a haunting relic frozen in time.
Images show the derelict terminal, decaying runways, and aircraft that have been left untouched for decades, creating an eerie time capsule of the island’s turbulent past.
With a few letters missing here and there, its large airport sign is still legible, but the only sign of life these days are the coos of pigeons roosting in its rotting ceiling or the howling wind blowing through its shattered windows.
A reception hall is a time capsule of trends of the era; peeling ad boards advertise shoes and holidays promising to take travellers to ‘the ends of the earth’.
Upstairs, a departure lounge lies empty, with rows of seats that look like they were taken out of an early sci-fi movie set coated in dust, and pigeon droppings.
Out on the runway, the shell of a solitary passenger jet sits on the tarmac, riddled with bullet holes.
Originally built in the 1920s as an RAF base, Nicosia International Airport played a crucial role in World War II, serving as a key stopover for military and civilian flights.
By the 1950s and 1960s, it had become a major gateway for tourists, even attracting Hollywood celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor.
However, in 1974, conflict between Greek and Turkish forces led to its destruction and subsequent abandonment.
The airport was officially closed to commercial flights following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, leaving it to deteriorate ever since.
In 1977 the last commercial airline flights left Nicosia Airport under UN Special Authorisation, when British Airways engineers retrieved three stranded Cyprus Airways aircraft and flew them to London.
Last July, it marked 50 years since Turkey invaded Cyprus in response to a brief coup orchestrated by the military then ruling Greece.
Greek Cypriots live in Cyprus’ south, and Turkish Cypriots in its north, separated by a UN controlled ceasefire line cleaving the island east to west.
Reunification talks have failed to yield any result.
Today, the airport lies within a United Nations Protected Area and remains largely off-limits to the public, but it has become a coveted location for urban explorers fascinated by its decayed grandeur and historical significance.
A spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus said last year: ‘It is actually frozen in time
‘Although there were several attempts over the years by the sides to reach an agreement, to see the airport being re-opened, restored, rehabilitated, the sides were unable to reach an agreement so gradually the condition of the airport had deteriorated.’
Despite its eerie silence, Nicosia International Airport remains a powerful symbol of the past, its derelict runways whispering stories of the thousands of travellers who once passed through its gates.
