Arıklı: “Ercan Airport Should Be Considered Part of Turkey”

Northern Cyprus Transport Minister Erhan Arıklı has proposed that Ercan Airport should be officially classified as a Turkish airport.

He believes this move could lead to lower airfares between Northern Cyprus and Turkey, and potentially pave the way for opening Northern Cyprus to international air traffic.

According to Arıklı, reclassifying Ercan as a domestic airport would allow the Turkish government to regulate ticket prices for flights between Ercan and Turkey—just as it does for internal routes within Turkey.

It would also mean lower tax rates on these flights. At present, flights between Turkey and Ercan are treated as international, and therefore subject to significantly higher taxes. Domestic classification would bring these costs down.

However, while airfare might decrease under this arrangement, other implications could be less favorable for Turkish Cypriots.

For instance, the minister drew a comparison to how flights operate between the U.S. and Ireland. In airports like Dublin and Shannon, U.S.-bound passengers clear American customs and immigration before boarding their flights. As a result, they arrive in the U.S. as domestic travelers.

A similar setup for Ercan would likely require Turkish customs and border officers to be stationed in Northern Cyprus—a move that could prove controversial and spark debate over sovereignty and jurisdiction.