First widebody jet in north unable to take off

The first widebody jet to land in the north has been able to take off after ground staff crashed a vehicle into the door of its hold.

The aeroplane, an Airbus A350 operated by Turkish Airlines, landed at Ercan (Tymbou) airport on Wednesday and was hailed by Turkish Ambassador in northern Nicosia Metin Feyzioglu as “a dream come true”.

However, as ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli explained on Friday, “ground staff personnel had an accident. They hit the plane’s door, and they bent it. Unfortunately, the plane could not go back. It landed but it could not take off.”

He then turned his attention to those mocking the course of events, saying “part of society is sadist and the other is masochist. They enjoy insulting the state, and social media is the perfect tool for this.”

“It was an accident, after all, it has nothing to do with us. The door was hit by a vehicle while opening and it was bent out of shape. It’s a big thing in aviation. The plane didn’t take off,” he added.