Air safety committee hard at work

A COMMITTEE set up to investigate air travel safety has started work, and is monitoring the Civil Aviation Department, airlines and the two airports.

The three-member committee will report its findings to the Communication and Works Ministry at the beginning of next month.

If loopholes in security are discovered, suggestions will be made to the relevant authorities in order for corrective measures to be taken.

Larnaca and Paphos airports have already been checked out, along with their control towers, with discussions involving the Civil Aviation Department, Cyprus Airways and Eurocypria due to take place.

Senior officials are being consulted to ensure the correct procedures are being followed.

The Civil Aviation Director yesterday told the Mail that a lot of work had recently been undertaken in order to improve security.

“This includes the removal of old and outdated equipment, which has been replaced with high-tech devices for passenger screening and x-rays,” said Leonidas Leonidou.
He added that airport personnel, as well as police officers, have been given special training on various security matters, adding that, “unnecessary openings at both airports have either been closed off or are now being closely monitored. Nobody can move in or out without being checked.”

Leonidou heads a special section created within the Civil Aviation Department, which deals with security. “Alertness, training and organisation are what we are all about,” he said.

Additionally, the airport control towers are being consulted on ways to stop planes hitting birds during take-off and landing.

Back in January, a wildlife management programme was set up by the consortium running the island’s two airports after it emerged that birds have been colliding with airplanes at Larnaca and Paphos.

Officially, there have been 34 cases of bird strikes against planes at the airports since 2000, but BirdLife Cyprus say the number is much higher.

“Last year alone, we believe there were approximately 200 cases at both airports, so this is obviously a very serious issue,” Martin Hellicar, President of the organisation, has said.

At the end of May, the European Civil Aviation Committee will be visiting the island to check on overall progress.

“We will then see where we stand,” 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.