Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus’ airspace remained open on Wednesday after the sighting of “suspicious objects” over Lebanon believed to be headed toward the island, with Greek fighter jets deployed in response. Officials said only brief holding patterns were requested for two flights during the operation.
Airspace status and flight movements
A transport ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday morning that Cyprus’ airspace remained open, contrary to earlier media reports. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis later said in a social media post that “the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus was not closed at any time”.
Letymbiotis said that, under established procedures, two flights were asked to remain in holding patterns for a short period to provide operational space for the departure and manoeuvres of Greek F-16 fighter jets scrambled after the sighting.
He said two of the four Greek jets stationed in Paphos since Tuesday were used in the operation. He added that the captain of one of the two flights returned to Athens, while the second flight landed normally a short time later, with Cypriot airspace “continuing to operate normally”.
A flight identified as Aegean Airlines flight 902 landed at Athens airport shortly before 11am and was expected to depart again at 11.45am.
Alert timeline and drone reports
The alert was raised at around 9.30am and lifted half an hour later. It was later reported that two drones headed for the island had been intercepted by the Greek jets.
It was believed the drones were Iranian-made Shahed drones, the same model as one which hit the runway at the United Kingdom’s Akrotiri air force base on Monday. Shahed drones are one-way attack drones and have been previously used in Iranian strikes on Israel and by the Russian military during its war with Ukraine.
What changes, if any, did you experience in flight schedules or airport operations during the Wednesday alert?