Filenews 7 October 2025 - by Dora Christodoulou
More than two years after the installation of dozens of cement blocks at the entrance of Paphos airport, for security reasons, they were removed today by decision of the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Alexis Vafeadis, following an initiative by MP Chrysanthos Savvidis.
From 9.00 this morning, Public Works crews, with heavy vehicles and machinery, began the removal of these concrete volumes without prior notification of this action, which caused great satisfaction to passengers, taxi drivers and airport services.
The cement blocks had been placed at the beginning of the war between Israel and Islamist organizations, both in front of the buildings and on the road leading to them, in order to avoid the movement of vehicles and people in front of the arrivals and departures buildings, in order to prevent any possibility of a terrorist act, at a time when things were unsettled in the wider region of the eastern Mediterranean.
All this time, travellers disembark and board their vehicles in specially designed areas away from the buildings, with travellers covering the distance to the buildings on foot. In addition to the inconvenience, this situation also contributed to the creation of an image of an "Arab bazaar", with cars illegally parked on sidewalks, prohibited areas, on entrances and exits of parking lots and wherever else there was available space.
However, with things having calmed down for several months, the voices about the practical problems, but also the aesthetic image that the entrance to Paphos International Airport exudes, have been growing louder lately. The Member of Parliament for Paphos, Chrysanthos Savvides, had taken a relevant initiative after a recent visit to the airport to examine the problems of taxi drivers, when he found out the practical difficulties that exist in the field.
The consequences were also acknowledged by the Minister of Transport, who had contacts yesterday with the Department of Public Works in order to finalize the day and time of the operation to remove the cement blocks. Alexis Vafeadis agreed that in essence, the national security reasons that required their installation were now eliminated and that both the movement of passengers and visitors, as well as the image of the airport in terms of aesthetics, will be greatly improved with the removal of these materials.
For this reason, he decided today's surprise sweep operation to remove the cement blocks, in order for the daily life of Paphos airport to return to its familiar levels.
