Cyprus airspace opens – Suspicious object detected, F16s scrambled

At around 9:30 AM on Wednesday (March 4), a state of alert was triggered in Cyprus after information was received about a suspicious object.

According to reports from Sigmalive, citing information from RIK, an alert was raised at the American Embassy in Nicosia, and staff were evacuated to the underground for precautionary reasons.

Two Greek F16s took off from the “Andreas Papandreou” Air Base in Paphos for reconnaissance and to address the suspicious object. After completing their mission, the two fighter jets returned to their base. The alert was lifted just before 10:00 AM, and the embassy staff returned to their duties. The presence of the Greek fighter jets in the skies was noticed by citizens.

The scheduled 9:30 AM Cabinet meeting was postponed, and an emergency meeting of the National Security Council was scheduled for 12:00 PM.

Aegean flight to Larnaca was diverted back to Athens

Meanwhile, the Aegean flight (902) that had been heading to Larnaca returned to Athens shortly after 11:00 AM due to a temporary airspace closure in Cyprus.

According to Aegean, the aircraft was refueled, and the flight is expected to depart again for Larnaca at 11:45 AM.

Government Spokesperson’s Statement

Cypriot Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, made a post about the incident, stating that a potential suspicious object was detected in airspace near Lebanon.

“A potential suspicious object was detected in airspace near Lebanon. As a precaution, all appropriate measures were taken by the relevant authorities for investigation and, if necessary, to address the incident. A further update will follow regarding the results,” he said.