Larnaca Airport

Cyprus has two large commercial airports, but only one where everything really comes together. At Larnaca land most of the vacationers, the business travelers from Nicosia and Limassol and an airline mix you won’t find in central Europe: Cypriot and Greek carriers, European low-cost jets and leisure airlines, plus connections from Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf. A single runway, a compact terminal and round-the-clock operation also make the airport easy to take in – ideal if you want to set aside a few hours for the camera on vacation.

Born out of necessity

That Larnaca of all places is the most important airport in Cyprus was originally not the plan. Until 1974 the island’s gateway was in Nicosia, the capital inland. After the Turkish invasion in July 1974, the airport there had to close; today it lies in the United Nations buffer zone and has been out of service for decades. Cyprus quickly needed a replacement – and found it on the south coast, on a site that had already served as an airfield in the 1930s and had later been used by the British military.

On February 8, 1975, Larnaca started operations. It was not comfortable: the terminal halls were made of prefabricated parts, and the runway was initially still too short for jet aircraft. The first airlines were Cyprus Airways with leased Vickers Viscounts and Olympic Airways with NAMC YS-11s – turboprops that could cope with the short runway. Over the years the stopgap became a full-fledged international airport.

A chapter of German aviation history also takes place here: during the hijacking of the Lufthansa aircraft “Landshut” in autumn 1977, the plane also landed at Larnaca before the odyssey ended in Mogadishu. Since 2016 the airport has also carried the added name Glafcos Clerides, after the former president of the Republic of Cyprus.

Hermes Airports and the new terminal

Since May 2006 operations are no longer directly in the hands of the state. At that time Hermes Airports Ltd took over the airports of Larnaca and Paphos under a 25-year concession based on the build-operate-transfer model. The principle: the operator builds and finances new facilities, runs them for the duration of the term and hands them back to the state afterward. According to Hermes, the shareholders include international construction, engineering and airport companies such as Bouygues, Egis, Aer Rianta International and Nice Airport, plus several Cypriot companies.

The most visible part of this concession is the passenger terminal, which opened on November 7, 2009, west of the old building. According to the operator it covers about 100,000 square meters and has 16 jet bridges. It was originally designed for 7.5 million passengers a year – a mark that Larnaca now clearly exceeds. Accordingly, construction at the terminal continues, among other things with additional remote stands and an extension to the west.

The old terminal has not disappeared: today it serves as a privately operated terminal for state guests, business travelers and private aircraft. For you as a spotter that means business jets and government aircraft can turn up at Larnaca from time to time – though that cannot be planned.

One runway between salt lake and sea

The layout is quickly explained. Larnaca has a single runway, 04/22, running northeast–southwest. Hermes gives its length as 2,994 meters. The airport lies between the Larnaca Salt Lake and Larnaca Bay on the Mediterranean – on a strip of land between two bodies of water. In addition to the large passenger apron in front of the terminal, there is a smaller apron for cargo and private aircraft as well as areas for flight schools and light aircraft.

With just one runway the picture is easier to take in than at hubs like Athens Airport. But there is no alternative: if the wind is unfavorable for your vantage point, you have to move.

Runway direction in use: 22 or 04?

Aircraft take off and land into the wind. With wind from southwesterly directions, operations run on 22 – aircraft then come in from the northeast over the bay and the coast at Larnaca and depart toward the southwest. If the wind shifts to northeast, 04 applies and the picture reverses: landings come from the southwest, takeoffs head toward the city and the sea.

For approach shots that is the decisive question, because at a single-runway airport you only see landings up close at one end. So before you head out, check in a flight tracker which direction aircraft are currently coming from – how to do that is covered in the article on flight tracking with ADS-B. You’ll find the basics of wind and runway direction at Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport.

Who is at home in Larnaca

Larnaca is the home base of several airlines. The best known is Cyprus Airways – though in two versions. The historic Cyprus Airways flew as the national carrier from 1947 to 2015 and then ceased operations. Today’s Cyprus Airways is a new foundation: the company Charlie Airlines acquired the brand rights, received its air operator certificate in March 2017 and started scheduled service on June 1, 2017. Its fleet consists exclusively of Airbus aircraft, including several Airbus A220-300s – the leitmotif of the airport for spotters.

The second Cypriot airline with a hub at Larnaca is TUS Airways. It started in February 2016, initially with small turboprops and regional jets, and since its restart in 2021 it has flown an all-Airbus A320 fleet. Add two big players that use Larnaca as a focus: Aegean Airlines as the Greek network carrier and member of Star Alliance, and Wizz Air with its low-cost jets.

The airline mix: Europe meets the Middle East

In total, more than 50 airlines fly to Larnaca. The most important routes in 2024 led to Athens, Tel Aviv and London Heathrow – which shows quite well what the airport stands for: close links to Greece, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, with which Cyprus has historically close ties.

From Greece, besides Aegean, come aircraft of SKY express. The British market is served heavily by leisure and low-cost airlines such as Jet2 and easyJet. From the German-speaking region you see Eurowings and Edelweiss, among others, plus seasonal connections by other carriers. What sets Larnaca apart from many Mediterranean airports are the airlines from the neighborhood: Israir from Israel, Royal Jordanian, Middle East Airlines from Beirut and Gulf Air from Bahrain are among the carriers that fly to Larnaca – some only seasonally, depending on the current schedule.

Widebody aircraft are rather the exception at Larnaca. Most of the traffic consists of narrowbody jets of the A320neo and A321neo generation, older A320s and the Boeing 737-800. That is exactly why it pays to look at the registration: with many identical-looking jets it is the only way to tell your sightings apart cleanly later. You recognize Cypriot aircraft by the prefix 5B-; how registrations are built in general is explained in the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

Traffic: record after the slump

The traffic figures tell a clear story. In 2019, Larnaca counted about 8.23 million passengers according to Hermes Airports. In the pandemic year 2020 the figure collapsed to about 1.68 million, then rose again year after year. In 2023 the pre-crisis level was almost reached, in 2024 it was exceeded, and in 2025 the airport set a new record with about 9.91 million passengers.

The season stands out. According to the operator’s monthly figures for 2026, January to March were each between a good 400,000 and 450,000 passengers, while August saw more than 1.2 million – almost three times as many. From January to September 2026, about 7.23 million passengers came together in total. For you that means: in summer there is much more going on, mainly because of the many additional leisure flights. In winter the schedule is slimmer, but the light is milder and the heat is no issue.

Spotting at Larnaca: what you should know

We don’t know of an official visitors’ park or a designated spotter terrace like in Munich or Hamburg at Larnaca. Spotters therefore move to publicly accessible places around the airport, mainly at the runway ends. With runway direction 22, landings come in from the northeast over the coast, where the airport reaches close to the city and the beach sections south of it. With runway direction 04 the action shifts to the southwestern end toward the salt lake.

The heat is a real issue in summer – not just for you but also for the pictures. The air shimmers over the heated asphalt, and long focal lengths across the runway quickly produce soft shots. You often get the best conditions in the early morning and late afternoon. Because Larnaca is open around the clock, an evening with long exposures is also worthwhile if the schedule and location fit.

If you want to combine Larnaca with a beach vacation, the article Plane spotting on vacation helps with planning. How to get your camera safely into carry-on luggage is covered in the article on camera gear in carry-on luggage.

Cargo, maintenance and general aviation

Larnaca is not a pure passenger airport. On the grounds there is its own cargo terminal with a separate apron; in 2025, about 35,000 tons of cargo were handled according to the airport’s figures. Part of it travels in the belly of passenger aircraft, plus express and cargo airlines with their own aircraft.

In addition, there is a large maintenance hangar for commercial aircraft at Larnaca, and flight schools and private light aircraft have their own areas. Together with the VIP terminal in the old building, this means smaller and more unusual aircraft turn up again and again between the scheduled jets – from the single-engine trainer to the business jet.

Larnaca compared

Within Cyprus, Paphos Airport in the west is the smaller brother. It also belongs to Hermes Airports, is more geared toward holiday traffic and is worth a visit if you spend your vacation in the west of the island. Together with Larnaca it covers most of the air traffic of the Republic of Cyprus.

In the eastern Mediterranean, Larnaca is a good building block for a bigger spotting trip. Athens Airport is Aegean’s hub and the most-flown connection from Larnaca. Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport is only a short flight away and has a very different airline picture. If you like the Greek islands, you’ll find in Heraklion and Rhodes two holiday airports with a strong summer schedule, and Malta Airport is another island airport in the Mediterranean. How to build such a tour is covered in the article Planning a spotting vacation.

Conclusion

Larnaca Airport is an emergency airport that became the main gateway of an entire island. A single runway of almost 3,000 meters between salt lake and sea, a terminal from 2009 and round-the-clock operation make it easy to take in – and with almost ten million passengers in 2025 it is in demand like never before.

For spotters the appeal lies in the mix: Cyprus Airways with its A220s, Greek airlines, European low-cost and leisure airlines, plus carriers from Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf. If you keep an eye on runway direction, light and heat and stay on public ground, you take away more from a Cyprus vacation than just beach photos.