Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the lack of direct flights from the UK to Ercan International Airport, and (2) the reasons why there are no such flights; and what discussions they have had with airline operators about how long it is intended to divert such flights via Turkey.

In accordance with the rest of the international community, the UK does not recognise the self-declared ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ as an independent state. Additionally, direct flights to and from the UK and the northern part of Cyprus would breach the UK’s international obligation under the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. As a result, it would be illegal, as a matter of domestic law, for the UK Government to support direct flights to the northern part of Cyprus.