‘Congested airspace’ the cause of repeated ‘security threat’ messages in Akrotiri

The congested nature of airspace above and around Cyprus is the cause of the repeated “security threat” messages which are sent to personnel on the British Akrotiri air force base and local residents, a British defence ministry spokesman said on Friday.

“There is congested airspace in the region at the moment, with a lot of planes, jets, missiles and drones in other parts of the airspace near the island,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

He said that as such, radar systems used to monitor the region by the British military, which are “hyper-aware and sensitive”, are triggered by aircraft, manned and unmanned, which are not necessarily headed in the direction of Cyprus.

“They pick up heat streaks or heat sources which are coming towards the region, but are not, in the end, headed towards Cyprus, but those messages are a safety blanket, a precaution,” he said.

He added that the messages are sent as a first precaution, and that those messages are often cancelled just minutes later “as it quickly becomes apparent that whatever was picked up is not headed for Cyprus”.

Bases personnel and local residents have been in receipt of multiple such messages since the base was hit by an Iranian-made drone in the early hours of Monday morning, though no drones have hit the island since then.