The air traffic controllers’ union in the north said on Wednesday that the north’s ‘airline’ that will start flights to Turkey next month is in fact a travel agency.

According to reports in Yeni Duzen, FLY-KHY that was presented by ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli as the north’s new airline is a travel agency, which is registered in Turkey and has investors from the north.

The union said: “The TRNC does not have a local or national airline. The company is not owned by the TRNC but by some businessmen living in the northern part of Cyprus with deep pockets that are close to the government.”

Commenting on images that had surfaced with an aircraft and the logo of FLY KHY, the union said that these are in fact misleading, as the aircraft shown with the logo belongs to the company Freebird, which is registered in Turkey.

Adding about the first test flight of the ‘TRNC company’, the air traffic controllers said that on March 13 it was Freebird that flew into Ercan (Tymbou) airport.

According to the PIO, the union said that Freebird has been flying to the north from various locations in Turkey for many years.

Last week, Arikli said that the launch of the airline will be held on March 13, and aimed to commence its first scheduled flight on April 16 via the new airport terminal.

He said that the company will begin with 75 flights a week in total to three destinations in Turkey, being Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir and that the airline’s headquarters will be in northern Nicosia.