Cyprus division could endanger the island's airspace

Confidential reports by international aviation authorities warn of "a high risk of accident" in the airspace where Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot air controllers give overlapping and contradictory instructions, confusing pilots on increasingly busy routes. The most serious of those incidents, involving an Airbus 330 passenger jet and a cargo aircraft in October 2008, could have resulted in a midair crash, according to a senior official with Greek Cyprus' Civil Aviation Department. The airspace is crisscrossed hundreds of times a day by flights between Europe and the Middle East. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has operated its own air control center since 1977 and lays claim to the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR). World aviation authorities recognize only Nicosia Air Control Center in the Greek Cypriot administration as having control over Nicosia FIR. Air traffic controllers on both sides are able to listen in on each other's chatter with pilots, but they don't communicate directly. "Yes, there is something that actually endangers flight safety, but it is controlled and nobody takes it to the extent that it would actually cause an accident," reassured Ayda Soylu of the TRNC's Foreign Ministry.