RAF Akrotiri | |||||||
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| Akrotiri in Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia,Cyprus | |||||||
 A RAFTornado GR4 returns to RAF Akrotiri after a mission undertaken duringOperation Shader | |||||||
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| Site information | |||||||
| Type | Permanent joint operating base | ||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||
| Controlled by | British Forces Cyprus | ||||||
| Condition | operational | ||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
  RAF Akrotiri  RAF Akrotiri  RAF Akrotiri | |||||||
| Coordinates | 34°35′25″N32°59′16″E / 34.59028°N 32.98778°E /34.59028; 32.98778 | ||||||
| Area | 2,128 hectares (5,260 acres) | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1 July 1955; 70 years ago (1955-07-01) | ||||||
| In use | 1955 – present | ||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||
| Current commander | Group Captain Adam Smolak | ||||||
| Occupants |
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| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: AKT,ICAO: LCRA,WMO: 17601 | ||||||
| Elevation | 75.4 feet (23 metres)AMSL | ||||||
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| Source: United Kingdom Military Aeronautical Information Publication[1] | |||||||
Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviatedRAF Akrotiri (IATA:AKT,ICAO:LCRA) (Greek:Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου,romanized: Vasilikí Polemikí Aeroporía Akrotiríou;Turkish:Kraliyet Hava kuvvetleri Ağrotur) is a largeRoyal Air Force (RAF) militaryairbase on theMediterranean island ofCyprus.[2] It is located in theWestern Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compriseAkrotiri and Dhekelia, aBritish Overseas Territory, administered as aSovereign Base Area.
The station was constructed in the mid-1950s, and was the base for operations during theSuez Crisis in 1956, theEOKA revolt, and monitoring of the Egypt / Israel Suez Canal fighting and cease-fire in the 1970s. It went on to be used during the reception of American casualties after the1983 Beirut barracks bombing and was used during theretaliatory attacks against Libya in 1986. It played a major role as a transit point for personnel evacuations out of Lebanon during the2006 Lebanon War and was used as a staging base for support aircraft involved inOperation Ellamy, the UK's contribution to theNATO-led military intervention in Libya, in 2011.
In August 2014, RAFPanavia Tornado fighter-bombers were deployed to Akrotiri to carry outreconnaissance missions overIraq, following the rise ofIslamic State (ISIS) and in September 2014, British aircraft from the base intercepted and attacked an ISIS target, at the request of IraqiKurdish fighters. In 2018, the station was used to support the2018 missile strikes against Syria and, in 2024, Typhoons based in Akrotiristruck Houthi targets in Yemen.
Thestation commander has a dual role, and is also the officer commanding the Akrotiri orWestern Sovereign Base Area, reporting to the commander ofBritish Forces Cyprus (BFC) who is also theAdministrator.
RAF Akrotiri was first constructed in the mid-1950s to relieve pressure on the main RAF station in the centre of the island,RAF Nicosia.[3]
In late 1956, relations between the United Kingdom and Egypt had reached a crisis. TheSuez Crisis saw a further increase in the strength of RAF forces in Cyprus. Akrotiri was mainly anairfield forfighter,photo reconnaissance, andground attack aircraft. Its regular squadrons ofGloster Meteor night fighters,English Electric Canberra photo reconnaissance aircraft, andde Havilland Venom ground attack machines were reinforced by further Canberras which were ready for action if Egypt attackedIsrael.[4]
After the Suez Crisis, the main emphasis of life on the airfield shifted to helping fight theEOKA revolt, and training missions. After the withdrawal from both Egypt andIraq, and Suez Crisis, it was clear that a command centred on Cyprus could not control units stationed in theArabian Peninsula, of which there were still many. Consequently, theMiddle East Command was split; with that east of Suez being controlled fromAden, Yemen, and the remainder being renamed theNear East Command, controlled from Cyprus. From 1957 to 1969, four squadrons operating the Canberra (No. 6 Squadron,No. 32 Squadron,No. 73 Squadron, andNo. 249 Squadron) provided first a conventional and then from November 1961, anuclear striking capability as part of theBaghdad Pact, later the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).[5]
Akrotiri, along withNicosia, assumed a very important status, as virtually the sole means for projecting British airpower into the eastern Mediterranean, outside of aircraft carriers. In 1960, independence was granted to Cyprus, with the RAF maintaining both RAF Nicosia and RAF Akrotiri as airfields, controlled by theNear East Air Force (NEAF). However, Akrotiri assumed more importance as Nicosia was used for greater civil aviation traffic. After 1966, it was no longer possible to maintain RAF units at Nicosia due to pressures of space, and Akrotiri became the only RAF flying station left on the island.[6]
In August 1970, detachment 'G' of theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) arrived at the airfield withLockheed U-2reconnaissance aircraft to monitor the Egypt / Israel Suez Canal fighting and cease-fire. Permanent monitoring of the Middle East Ceasefire was undertaken by the100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing after the 1973Yom Kippur War, known as Operation 'OLIVE HARVEST'.[7]
Up until 1974, RAF Akrotiri had a balanced force of aircraft assigned to it, includingNo. 9 Squadron andNo. 35 Squadron, both flyingAvro Vulcan strategic bombers. The Vulcans provided a bomber force for CENTO, one of the three main anti-Communist mutual defence pacts signed in the early days of theCold War.[8] However, during that year,Turkish forces invaded Cyprus in connection with a Greek-sponsored coup. The UK then evacuated most of the RAF from Akrotiri as the CENTO treaty had degenerated to the point of uselessness. The two Vulcan squadrons left for UK stations in 1975. What was left at the airfield was the flying unit that is permanently assigned to the station to this day;No. 84 Squadron, a helicopter search and rescue unit.[9] In addition, the role ofNo. 34 Squadron RAF Regiment provided support.[10]
In September 1976, the US U-2 operations were reassigned to the9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (9th SRW), but the U-2 operation at RAF Akrotiri continued to be called Operating Location (OLIVE HARVEST) OH until September 1980. Thereafter, it became Detachment 3 of the 9th SRW, although the name OLIVE HARVEST continues. Two U-2s are stationed at RAF Akrotiri, and they are still monitoring the ceasefire agreement between the Egypt and Israel, although the present operations in theUS Central Command area requires further missions. U-2s also transit through RAF Akrotiri either on going into the Central Command theatre, or returning toBeale AFB, California.[11]
Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it was used for the reception of American casualties after the1983 Beirut barracks bombing.[13]
Between April 1983 and September 1984, RAFBoeing Chinook helicopters deployed to Akrotiri in support of British United Nations forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL).[14]
In the mid-1980s, the US launchedretaliatory attacks against Libya after the country's leader,Muammar al-Gaddafi, was implicated in thebombing of a West Berlin discotheque. Although the bombing operations were staged out of the UK, Akrotiri was employed in the role of an alternate in case of emergency, and was used as such by at least one aircraft. This led to retaliatory action against the British base.[15]
In July 2006, RAF Akrotiri played a major role as a transit point for personnel evacuations out of Lebanon during the2006 Lebanon War (seeinternational reactions to the 2006 Lebanon War andJoint Task Force Lebanon).[16]
Akrotiri was the location of the main transmitter of the well knownnumbers station, theLincolnshire Poacher, although transmissions ceased in 2008.[17]
In March 2011, the station was used as a staging base for support aircraft involved inOperation Ellamy, the UK's contribution to theNATO-led military intervention in Libya.Tanker support and logistical units were based here to support aerial operations over the country.[18]
In August 2013, six RAFEurofighter Typhoon aircraft were deployed to Akrotiri to defend the base, "to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defence of our sovereign base areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region". Earlier, twoRAF Lockheed TriStar aerial refuelling aircraft and aBoeing Sentry AEW1 had been deployed to Akrotiri.[19][20]
The station hosted the main hospital forBritish Forces Cyprus,The Princess Mary's Hospital (TPMH), located onCape Zevgari. This closed in October 2012, and cases too serious to be dealt with at the base health clinic are sent to the private Ygia Polyclinic inLimassol.[1][21]
In August 2014, six RAFPanavia Tornado fighter-bombers were deployed to Akrotiri to carry outreconnaissance missions overIraq, following the rise ofIslamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. On 26 September 2014,Members of Parliament voted in favour of the RAF carrying outair strikes on ISIS in Iraq, and on 27 September the first two Tornado jets took off from Akrotiri loaded withlaser-guided bombs and missiles. On 30 September 2014, two British Tornados successfully intercepted and attacked ISIS targets of a heavily armed truck, at the request of IraqiKurdish fighters.[22][23]
Work started in the summer of 2015 on upgrading Akrotiri's airfield infrastructure. The £46m project included the resurfacing of the runway, taxiways and aircraft aprons and installation of ground lighting systems, drainage infrastructure andrunway hydraulic arrestor gear. The project was completed in March 2017.[24][25]
The station was used to support the2018 missile strikes against Syria.[26]
In June 2019, the station launched the RAF's firstLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II operational sortie. Six aircraft were deployed to take part in operations against Islamic State.[27]
Flight logs indicated that UK military transport aircraft made numerous flights from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv’sBen Gurion Airport during theGaza war. The reasons for the flights were unknown.[28]
Four Typhoons based in Akrotiristruck Houthi targets in Yemen on 12 January 2024.[29]
The RAF reportedly assistedIsrael during theApril 2024 Iranian strikes on Israeli territory from jets that had taken of from RAF Akrotiri and were flying overIraq.[30][31]
During 2024, protesters demonstrated outside the base against the UK and US' use of the base to support Israel in its military actions inGaza andLebanon.[32]
In June 2025,Cyprus Police arrested a British-Azeri man on charges of espionage and terrorism among other charges with the man's primary targets being RAF Akrotiri and the Cypriot airbase inPafos, allegedly forIran'sIRGC.[33][34][35]
In 2007, a largeover-the-horizon radar antenna was erected within the base. Several demonstrations and protests took place, with the most memorable incident being the act of MP (MEP since 2004)Marios Matsakis chaining himself to the antenna. Matsakis stated "It is outrageous that in the 21st century there are Cypriot villages living under British military rule, neither under their own government's jurisdiction nor under the protection of the EU treaties".[36]
In 2010, U-2s from theUnited States Air Force's 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used inOperation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information aboutHezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities. These flights were the topic of acrimoniousleaked diplomatic cables between British officials and the American embassy, withDavid Miliband saying that "policymakers needed to get control of the military". The British were concerned that the flights over Lebanon were authorised by theLebanese Ministry of Defence, rather than the entire cabinet, and that the intelligence so gained could lead to the UK being complicit in the unlawful torture of detainees. After warnings that these issues "could jeopardise future use of British territory",John Rood, a senior Bush administration official, andMariot Leslie, theForeign Office's director general for defence and intelligence, became involved. Leslie said that the U.S. was not actually expected to check on detained terrorists, but that future spy missions would require full written applications.[37]
Between December 2023 and March 2025, the RAF carried out more than 500 surveillance flights overGaza.[38] The MoD usesShadow R1 planes for the surveillance. The crews responsible for flying the planes come from14 Squadron, which is based atRAF Waddington inLincolnshire.[39] TheMoD said that the flights have been in support of hostage rescue. It has also repeatedly refused to answer questions about what the base is being used for.[40][38] The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracted a US company to conduct the spy-flights over Gaza from Akrotiri. It said this was due to a shortage of planes. The company conducting the flights is a subsidiary ofSierra Nevada Corporation, a large military contractor.[41] Information collected by the spy-flights is shared with Israel.[42] The flights have captured information about Israeli attacks on Gaza but the MoD has not released the information. The family of James Kirby, who was killed by Israel in theWorld Central Kitchen aid convoy attack, criticised the UK government for refusing to release information gathered about the attack.[43] A RAF spy plane captured footage while flying over Gaza on the day of the attack.[44]
Units based at RAF Akrotiri.[45][46]
No. 2 Group (Air Combat Support) RAF
No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF
RAF Akrotiri'sbadge, awarded in August 1957, features aflamingo standing in a representation of water. The station is adjacent toLimassol Salt Lake which is a breeding ground for migrating flamingoes.[55]
The station'smotto isAcra semper acria (Latin for 'The Peninsula is Always Eager').[55]
RAF Akrotiri'sgate guardian is an English Electric Lighting F.6 (serialXS929) wearingNo. 56 Squadron markings. Two helicopters are also preserved at the station, a Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 (XD184) and Westland Wessex HC.2 (XR504), both in No. 84 Squadron markings.[56]
| Airlines | Destinations |
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| AirTanker | Charter:RAF Brize Norton Seasonal charter:Birmingham,East Midlands |
| West Atlantic UK | Charter:Bari,Ta'if,Warton[57] |
 United States Air Force Mediterranean Bases | |||||
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