Paphos International Airport ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Πάφου; tr, Baf Uluslararası Havalimanı) is a joint civil-military public airport located southeast of the city of

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. It is the country's second largest airport, after

Larnaca International Airport Larnaca International Airport – Glafcos Clerides (''Diethnís Aeroliménas Lárnakas''). tr, Larnaka Uluslararası Havaalanı). is an international airport located southwest of Larnaca, Cyprus. Larnaca International Airport is Cyprus' main ...

. Paphos Airport is commonly used by tourists on vacation in western Cyprus, providing access to popular resorts such as Coral Bay,

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

(about south-east) and Paphos itself.

History

The airport first opened in 1982. In May 2006, Hermes Airports Limited took over the construction, development and operation of both Larnaca and Paphos airports for a period of 25 years. According to the airport operator, Paphos Airport served 1,744,011 passengers in 2007.Hermes Airports, ''Passenger traffic 2007'', 9 August 2008. A new terminal opened at Paphos in November 2008. On 10 January 2012, Ryanair announced they were to open their 50th base in Paphos. In April 2012, they placed 2 aircraft in Paphos with 15 new routes, offering over 80 flights a week. Ryanair claim the reason they opened the base in Paphos was due to reduced landing charges offered by Hermes' incentive scheme, as well as the fact that they can easily operate within their standards (e.g. their typical 25 minutes

turnaround time Turnaround time (TAT) is the amount of time taken to complete a process or fulfill a request. The concept thus overlaps with lead time and can be contrasted with cycle time. Meaning in computing In computing, turnaround time is the total time t ...

). A new four-lane road is being planned to link the airport and

so passengers and staff can avoid using the B6 Main road and the E603 secondary road which are often heavily congested.

Facilities

Paphos International Airport Check-in Hall

Passenger facilities include 28 check-in desks, 1 special baggage check-in, 7 gates, 22 aircraft stands, a bank, restaurants, cafeterias, bars, a

duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, wh ...

and a gift shop. Other facilities include a tourist help desk, car rental, first aid, a baby/parent room and disabled access facilities. Refrigerated storage, health officials, and X-ray equipment are among some of the facilities provided for cargo. Furthermore, loading platforms and forklifts are also available.

Andreas Papandreou Air Base

The airport is also an asset of the Cyprus National Guard and the

Cyprus Air Forces The Cyprus Air Command ( el, Διοίκηση Αεροπορίας Κύπρου), is the armed air wing of the National Guard. This force is equipped with attack and anti-tank helicopters, surface-to-air missile systems and integrated radar ...

, serving as a military air force base under the call name "Andreas Papandreou". It is considered the most south-eastern European Air Force base component of various EU air forces, as well as a safe base for humanitarian and emergency purposes for other countries.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Paphos:

Statistics

Access

Bus

There is a regular bus service from Paphos Harbour station to the airport, limited services also run to/from Paphos Town (Karavella) and Polis. Direct buses to/from

, Nicosia and

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 1 ...

are also available.

Car

The airport is located 20.8 km southeast of Paphos and 61.2 km west of Limassol.

Accidents and incidents

* On 21 September 2011, a

Thomson Airways Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

inadvertently landed on the

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

parallel to the runway (Taxiway Bravo, formerly Runway 11L/29R). No other aircraft was on the taxiway at the time, and the Thomson taxied safely to the

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

. A

NOTAM A Notice to Airmen/Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM), is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight. NOTAMs are unclassified notices or ...

was published on 20 December 2011, warning pilots of the possibility of mistaking the runway with the parallel taxiway. An additional NOTAM was published on 14 August 2012, recommending pilots to confirm their alignment with the runway by using the ILS localizer when performing a visual approach to runway 29. By 2014, yellow "TAXI" markings were painted across the width of the parallel taxiway near either longitudinal end, facing approaching aircraft; and a "TAXIWAY" marking was painted at its junction with Taxiway Charlie (about midway), facing the latter. (Registration required.)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{authority control Airports in Cyprus Paphos