Nicosia International Airport opened in 1939, renovated in the 1960s, and saw aircraft

Nicosia International Airport was officially opened in 1939 and later renovated and expanded in the late 1960s to handle growing traffic.

A coup d’état supported by the Greek military junta on 15 July 1974 closed the airport for three days, and during the subsequent invasion combat reached Nicosia, where a Cyprus Airways Hawker‑Siddeley Trident 2E was severely damaged by bombings on 22 July 1974 and never flew again.

The damaged Trident remained abandoned on the tarmac until 1977, when the remaining three aircraft were recovered.