Filenews 11 June 2024
As of today, the Department of Forests of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment has at its disposal six additional aircraft to contribute to the work of air firefighting.
Specifically, two Air Tractor AT802 aircraft arrived in Cyprus yesterday afternoon from Argentina, while this afternoon two more Air Tractor AT802 aircraft from Australia are expected to arrive. This was achieved after the successful outcome of the offers for the lease of four aircraft.
It is noted that the cost of leasing two of the above four aircraft will be covered by the EU RescEU mechanism.
The effective coordination and cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard and the Ministry of Interior, led to another important addition to the flying means that the Department of Forests will have at its disposal from today.
In particular, the concession by Egypt of two helicopters with their 17-member crew, which are expected to arrive in Cyprus today at noon, was achieved.
The cooperation with neighbouring countries, as a result of which is the stationing of Jordanian helicopters on the island, confirms the positive results of the multilevel foreign policy of the government of Nikos Christodoulides, but also the excellent cooperation of Cyprus with neighboring countries.
Once all appropriate controls and the necessary information and training of crews are completed, the aircraft will be put on immediate fire readiness.
