Greek military plane carrying Cypriots from Lebanon lands in Larnaca

The Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft provided by the Greek defence ministry to facilitate the evacuation of Cypriot citizens from Lebanon arrived at Larnaca airport on Thursday.

The aircraft touched down in Larnaca shortly after 1pm, before continuing on its planned journey towards Athens.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said he had been “informed in real time” by Greece’s chief of defence staff General Dimitrios Choupis “of the successful rescue operation from Beirut of 38 Cypriot nationals and 22 Greek nationals” and the entry of the aircraft into Cypriot airspace.

“Congratulations to those who contributed to this operation,” he said.

Cypriot Foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis told the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday morning “more developments are expected within the day”.

The provision of the aircraft was announced on Tuesday night by Dendias after he held a telephone call with his Cypriot counterpart Vasilis Palmas.

The Cyprus News Agency estimates there are around 1,200 Cypriot citizens living in Lebanon at present, while it has been estimated that the number of Greeks living in Lebanon could be near 7,000.

The provision of the military aircraft to evacuate Cypriots from Lebanon comes as commercial flight tickets rapidly sell out.

A spokesperson for Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday that all flights from Beirut to Larnaca were sold out for the foreseeable future and could not give a date for the next available flight.

Middle East Airlines currently operates two flights per day from Beirut to Larnaca.

Cyprus Airways operates one flight a day from Beirut to Larnaca, and the airline’s website lists all tickets on that route as sold out until October 29.

The evacuation of Cypriot nationals from Lebanon comes as Cyprus continues to operate its ‘Estia’ plan at its “maximum state of readiness” for any potential requests from third countries.

The country is yet to receive a request from any other country, though Gotsishad told the Cyprus Mail earlier in the week that the plan, under which the country acts as a hub for EU and third country nationals to be evacuated from conflict zones to the island before travelling onwards to their countries of origin, is ready for action.

As such, the ‘Estia’ plan remains not yet activated, though this has not stopped the Cypriot government from making preparations ahead of any such request or further deterioration in Lebanon.

Photographs released on Monday revealed a line of large tents had been erected inside the grounds of the Larnaca port in preparation for any such evacuation.

Gotsis said the tents had been placed as part of the government’s “maximum state of readiness” for the ‘Estia plan’ to be activated, with the tents set to be used for matters such as registering arrivals and other administrative functions.

Cyprus’ readiness to enact the ‘Estia plan’ comes after the United Kingdom sent sent 700 troops, border force agents, and other officials to Cyprus to help with contingency planning for a range of scenarios in Lebanon.

The country’s foreign office had said the teams “joined the already significant UK diplomatic and military footprint in the region”, with the country also reopening a scheme for its citizens called “Register Your Presence”, which it says will support its citizens in Lebanon and “provide vital updates”.

Iran’s latest volley of missiles fired at Israel comes as a retaliation for Israel’s killing of militant group Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, after the country had already wiped out most of its leadership structure.

Israeli army radio said nearly 200 missiles were launched from Iran on Tuesday night, while Iran’s revolutionary guard declared that if Israel retaliated again, their response would be “more crushing and ruinous”.

Later on Tuesday night, Israel’s military sounded the all-clear and said Israelis were free to leave their bomb shelters, while military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military was not aware of any injuries resulting from the Iranian missile attacks.

Israel had invaded southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning, having struck central Beirut with a missile for the first time since 2006 a day earlier.

Meanwhile, the United Nations reported that 100,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria since the latest escalation in the conflict, while the country’s Prime Minister Najib Makati said Israel’s continuing air strikes may have already forced a million people to across Lebanon to leave their homes.

Cyprus has been on standby for any activation of the ‘Estia’ plan throughout the summer, with deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou saying the island was ready in July.

“If help is needed, we will provide it. We have the know-how and the infrastructure to do so,” he added.

The Estia plan has been activated before, most recently in October last year following Hamas’ attack on Israel, as EU and third country nationals fled the country after the attack.

The plan entails Cyprus acting as a hub for third country nationals fleeing a neighbouring country before being repatriated to their own countries of origin.

When Sudan was evacuated in April last year, a total of 2,611 people arrived in Cyprus, while over 1,000 are known to have arrived from Israel in October.