Jumbos prepare to jet in voters

FIVE OF the 29 flights chartered by the Tassos Papadopoulos campaign team to fly over voters from Europe and America are Boeing 747 planes, better known as jumbo jets.

The Boeing 747 was the first widebody aircraft in history, noted for its double deck configuration on part of the length of the plane. The first ever jumbo jet delivery went to Pan Am in 1969. The following year saw its first commercial flight. Since then, the 747 series has gone on to be the most popular widebody aircraft, offering distances of over 14,000km, speeds of over 900km/h and seat capacity starting from 400 plus. It held the passenger capacity record for 37 years until the Airbus A380 (superjumbo)
came along, with 800 plus capacity.

Director of the Civil Aviation Department Leonidas Leonidou said Larnaca and Paphos airports had no problems accommodating the Boeing 747, which has landed on our island a number of times, most notably during the Lebanon crisis in 2006.
There would be a problem, however, with accommodating the ‘superjumbo’ Airbus A380 which would require certain changes to the runway first.

“The Airbus A380 or double decker as it’s called would be a problem. Certain changes would have to be made to remove certain things from the runway but this is a collector’s item at the moment. I don’t see it coming to an airport in Cyprus any time soon,” said Leonidou.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.