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European and Cypriot air traffic controller unions have called for urgent high-level international action after a near-collision in the Nicosia Flight Information Region on 19 August.<\/p>\n
According to the unions, a Turkish Air Force Airbus A400M entered the airspace without establishing radio contact with Nicosia and diverged from its filed flight plan. The military aircraft climbed towards 36,000 feet as a TUI Airways Boeing 737 descended towards 35,000 feet on a converging path. Controllers at the Nicosia Area Control Centre spotted the conflict and instructed the passenger jet to level off, averting a serious incident.<\/p>\n
The unions say the episode is not an isolated lapse but part of a long-standing safety problem. The European Commission described the lack of coordination in the area as \u201cunsustainable and unacceptable\u201d as early as 2012. Fourteen years later, they argue, the same conditions remain unresolved.<\/p>\n
Turkish military aircraft and drones, they say, continue to operate without coordination near busy international routes and close to Larnaca and Paphos airports. Controllers are left to manage uncoordinated traffic on a daily basis, with no reliable two-way communication between Ankara and Nicosia.<\/p>\n
The unions are demanding ICAO involvement, restored operational coordination between Ankara and Nicosia, an EU-led safety review of the Nicosia FIR, and a clear, time-bound technical solution that does not penalise Cyprus.<\/p>\n