On 15 July 1974 right wing Greek nationalists overthrew the democratically elected president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios. Nicosia Airport was briefly closed by the coupists, then used on 17 July 1974 to ferry troops from Greece to Cyprus to support the coup against Makarios. Only on the 18 July was it allowed to reopen to civilian traffic, becoming a site of chaotic scenes as holidaymakers and other foreign nationals tried to leave the island. Finally, on 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus, bombing the airport heavily and forcing its permanent closure. The attack on Nicosia Airport caught all of Cyprus Airways aircraft on the ground. Two Tridents were only lightly damaged by small arms fire and were flown out of Nicosia by British Airways engineers to the United Kingdom in 1977. The other two Tridents stranded at Nicosia International Airport, one was destroyed by Turkish Air force rocket fire and the other one, 5B-DAB, was damaged by small arms fire remaining in the same position today as it did in 1974 slowly decaying...
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Airways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicosia_International_Airport
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