An aircraft carrying 36 tonnes of medical equipment from China landed at Larnaca airport last night more than eight hours later than its scheduled arrival time as the flight had been diverted to Moscow due to refusal by Turkey to let it fly through its airspace.
Karousos announced the cargo’s arrival around 10:30 pm on Wednesday via Twitter:
“36 tonnes of medical equipment for Coronavirus arrived a while ago from China. An adventurous flight as the Turkish authorities did not allow the plane to fly through Turkey’s airspace. Congratulations to all for the successful outcome of the flight.”
The Transport Ministry had announced the arrival of the cargo on Wednesday morning prior to the incident, saying that a charter flight with consumables from Tianjin airport, China would arrive at Larnaca airport around 1:30 pm.
36 τόνοι ιατρικού υλικού για τον κορωνοϊό έφτασαν πριν λίγο Κύπρο από Κίνα. Μια περιπετειώδης πτήση, αφού οι τούρκικες αρχές δεν επέτρεψαν στο αεροπλάνο να περάσει από τον εναέριο χώρο της Τουρκίας. Συγχαρητήρια σε όλους για την επιτυχή έκβαση της πτήσης. @MinHealthCY #karousos pic.twitter.com/zhptX6YX17
— Yiannis Karousos (@yianniskarousos) May 13, 2020
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Plane carrying medical equipment to Cyprus diverted after Turkey refuses entry in its airspace