An easyJet plane carrying 184 passengers from London Gatwick to Larnaca on Friday that had to be diverted to a Turkish airport due to poor weather conditions over the east Mediterranean island was subsequently prevented by Turkish authorities from continuing on directly to Cyprus.
Turkey, alone in the world, does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, rather it recognizes a breakaway Turkish Cypriot pseudo-state on the one-third of the island that Turkish troops occupy. Turkey also prohibits flights from its territory to Cyprus.
The aircraft first landed at the Dalaman airport in extreme southwest Turkey and was then forced to file a flight plan for Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. Passengers finally arrived at Cyprus’ Paphos airport at around 4.30 a.m. on Saturday.
