More than half of the 81,000 vehicles recalled for faulty Takata airbags have been fitted with new ones, while 33,000 are still pending, the road transport department (TOM) said on Wednesday.

TOM officer Marios Hadjigeorgiou, speaking on CyBC radio, reiterated the call to owners of affected vehicles to make arrangements the soonest possible.

He reminded car owners that eight months after the recall notification is sent, the vehicles are automatically placed out of circulation.

“Five thousand have been immobilised and over 2,000 others have been withdrawn,” Hadjigeorgiou said referring to the 33,000 that have not implemented the recall. This makes the number of cars awaiting replacement airbags by the October deadline smaller.

These figures, he said, were last from week due to the summer holidays.

“The issue of recalls is ongoing and more are added […] But the 81,000 affected by the decree have until October to implement the recall. The additional ones have a different date,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

He explained that the cars added later have “eight months to implement the recall, with the exception of those deemed dangerous, which are immediately immobilised”.

“We are urging the people to respond in time, mainly for safety reasons. According to information we have from some companies, several people have not responded,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

If they pass the eight-month deadline, “their MOT is rescinded and automatically their road tax is cancelled.”

Regarding charges by some importers, Hadjigeorgiou said an investigation into the matter indicated that these were “clearly administrative costs”.

On Tuesday, TOM announced that 15,000 more cars had been recalled and the deadline for fixing them is eight months from the day the owners were notified.

According to TOM, procedures are in place for those cars as well, however priority is given to those immobilised and those on the initial list for which the deadline is closing.

TOM said it was regularly updated by the companies regarding the rate of recall implementation.

Hadjigeorgiou said several companies have available slots and TOM is urging car owners to make an appointment.

The issue of airbags stems from the production of faulty airbags by Japanese company Takata. The company’s airbags suffer a fault related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, which means they have a tendency to explode when released under such circumstances.

This explosion shoots the airbag’s metal inflator outwards and in the direction of the person it was designed to protect, potentially causing further injuries or, in some cases, death.

Faulty airbags have caused two deaths in Cyprus, those of Styliani Giorgalli last year and Kyriakos Oxinos in 2023, while Alexandros Lougos has so far undergone 21 surgeries to restore his face after being involved in an accident in 2017.

The parents of both Kyriakos Oxinos and Styliani Giorgalli lashed out at Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades after the report was published, accusing him of stalling and indifference.

The report documenting the findings of the committee formed to investigate the history of faulty airbags in Cyprus and their import into the country recommended that criminal charges be brought against three people.

It also recommended that disciplinary charges be brought against five others.

Attorney-general George Savvides took receipt of the report on July 11, with the committee’s chairman, former Supreme Court judge Michalakis Christodoulou outlining the reasons behind his recommending of criminal charges.

Those charges relate to the cases involving Alexandros Lougos, Styliani Giorgalli and Kyriakos Oxinos.

On July 22, Vafeades said half of the cars on Cyprus’ roads have been imported secondhand and, despite efforts to move forward with the replacement of faulty Takata airbags following deaths and injuries, “we are back at square one”.

“We are at the same point as we were in 2017,” Vafeades said, reminding that the inquiry into the history of recalls found him not at fault, on the contrary in its report it stated that the minister had made “agonising and painstaking efforts to manage the situation he inherited”.

For more information and to check if your vehicle is affected, visit the official government portal: https://www.gov.cy/mtcw/airbag-recalls/