REVEALING - CONTINGENCIES WITH SIX AERIAL MEANS OF FOREST FIREFIGHTING SHORTLY BEFORE THE FIRE SEASON - A BID FOR FOUR IS PENDING WHILE DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAN AFFECT TWO MORE - Filenews 12/3 by Michalis Chatzivasilis
We are about to enter the fire season against the backdrop of last year's tragic events that blackened Cyprus and left behind two dead, without fully secured aerial firefighting means.
And this, according to information from "F", because:
>> Four firefighting helicopters that were supposed to be on the island and take over work on April 1, 2026, have not yet received instructions, because appeals to the Review Authority and the Courts are pending.
>> Two helicopters expected to arrive from Jordan on March 1, 2026, have not yet arrived, due to the war in Iran.
In addition, it is noted that two firefighting aircraft (air tractor), which will be stationed in our country, but belong to the European aerial firefighting mechanism, will be available for any EU country that needs them.
So, yesterday, the national coordinating chief fire marshal, Nikos Longinos, may have referred to 13 aircraft that are secured, however, there are many imponderables that can reduce these means even to seven or even increase to 17.
According to our information, if a decision is not made immediately for the four firefighting helicopters, then there will be a serious gap. Already the company that succeeded in the tender and won the tender, in a letter to the Minister of Defense Vassilis Palmas, warns that it will be forced to re-evaluate the possibility of keeping its helicopters and personnel on standby for the Republic of Cyprus, if a decision is not taken immediately.
The contract he won is up in the air, since due to continuous appeals by another interested company, the issue remains pending. In fact, on the basis of a letter, the successful company Helicompany was supposed to make the four Blackhawk helicopters available from April 1, 2026, but so far it has not been asked by the Ministry of Defense to do so.
According to its letter, this company has twice emerged as a successful bidder in the tender for the five-year aerial firefighting contract of the Republic of Cyprus, while it has already offered aerial firefighting services to the island through bridge contracts during the 2023 and 2024 fire seasons. However, the process of implementing the contract has remained pending since the beginning of 2025 due to continuous appeals, which creates a serious risk that the Republic of Cyprus will enter the 2026 fire season without adequately secured aerial firefighting assets.
According to our same information, the Air Firefighting Squadron of the National Guard, which is now responsible for the aerial means of extinguishing fires, is studying the transitional solution through a bridge contract for the summer season, as was the case last year. Decisions are expected immediately, because otherwise the successful company will make available to other countries the means at its disposal.
At the moment, the Republic of Cyprus has four aircraft (three that it already had and one that was acquired this year) plus two of the EU, which, however, will be stationed in Cyprus under the rescue eu program but will be available in any country in Europe that requests it. We will also have the two rented air tractors, plus the four helicopters for which an arrangement is expected to be made so that they are immediately available, as well as a Police helicopter.
These means can under certain conditions rise to 17, if the two helicopters of the British Bases plus the two Jordanian helicopters are counted, the arrival of which, however, depends on the war in Iran. In the next few days, contact will be made with Jordan to examine the options that exist for their timely arrival, as was the case last year.
