Construction to begin on RAF Akrotiri's new multi-million pound passenger terminal

Construction is set to start on a new passenger terminal and freight facility at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus following a groundbreaking ceremony.

As part of a £66m contract, they will replace the existing passenger and freight handling facility built in the 1960s.

The passenger terminal is used by troops and their families for travelling home to the UK and the new facility is expected to handle 700 passengers a day.

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The terminal is often the first and last sense of ‘home’ for personnel who pass through when deploying further afield.

The existing passenger terminal is not big enough to handle the volume of passengers transported on modern RAF planes.

It was built for VC-10 aircraft, which carried 131 passengers while their replacement, RAF Voyagers, carry 291 passengers and 14 crew, often causing overcrowding in the departure and arrival areas.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday morning, Brigadier Andrew Dawes, Deputy Commander of British Forces Cyprus, said the multimillion-pound contract is a "really significant investment" in both Cyprus and RAF Akrotiri.

"This is the first step on a major transformation of RAF Akrotiri," Brig Dawes said.

"This brings RAF Akrotiri into the modern age and gets us closer to that ambition of a fifth-generation air base.

"But most significantly, it will be designed to operate an inbound Voyager at the same time as an outbound Voyager, as well as handling freight from an A400M," he added.

The building contract – awarded by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and UK Strategic Command -  forms part of the Apollo Programme designed to upgrade Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites in Cyprus.

The new terminal roof replicates the wings of a Typhoon and the cladding pattern is designed in the style of Lefkara lace.

Lefkara lace or Lefkaritika is a form of traditional handmade lace made exclusively in Cyprus and protected by Unesco as part of the country’s cultural heritage.

Incorporating the Lefkaritika pattern into the new terminal's design aims to pay homage to Cyprus.

Its expected passengers can start to use the new building by 2027.