The first test flight at the new Ercan airport took place on Wednesday, ahead of its formal opening.
The new Ercan airport is planned to open on July 20, the 49th anniversary of Peace and Freedom Day.
The date was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to North Cyprus last month.
The first test flight was conducted following the completion of the work for the new Ercan airport.
Test flights will last for four days, officials said.
Before the first test flight, Public Works and Transport Minister Erhan Arıklı held a joint press conference with Naci Işık, the technical coordinator of the T&T consortium, which runs Ercan airport.
“We are getting everything ready for the opening of the new Ercan airport,” said Arıklı, noting that, “On July 20, we hopefully will celebrate together to bring this spectacular investment to the public service.”
“The new airport will be opened on July 20 and will be fully operational,” said Arıklı, noting that “All flights will be conducted at the new airport.” The old airport will be used as a police building.
The new Ercan airport has a runway with a length of 3,100 metres and a terminal building six times bigger than the current 20,000-square-meter terminal building, with a capacity to serve 10 million passengers.
By TAK