Nicosia International Airport (, ) is a largely disused airport located west of the Cypriot capital city of Nicosia in the Lakatamia suburb. It was originally the main airport for the island, but commercial activity ceased following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. The airport site is now mainly used as the headquarters of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. History Nicosia International Airport was the principal airport for Cyprus from its initial construction in the 1930s as the Royal Air Force station RAF Nicosia until 1974. At first, it acted principally as a military airport, and is still owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The landing strip was constructed in 1939 by the Shell Company and Pierides & Michaelides Ltd. Services were provided by Misrair with four-engined DH.86 aircraft. During the Second World War, the airport's facilities and runway were extended by local contractors Stelios Joannou and George Paraskevaides. American bombers used the runway in 1943/1944 when returning from Allied bombings of the Romanian Ploieşti oil fields. Following World War II, commercial services were reintroduced, and by 1948 Misrair, BOAC, Cyprus Airways and MEA were providing regular services. The facilities provided were limited, with three Nissen huts used as a terminal building housing Customs, Immigration, Civil Aviation, Signals, Traffic and Operational Services. Restaurant services were provided by the NAAFI. In 1949 the first terminal building was designed and built by the Public Works Department at a cost of £50,000 (£ in 2015) and was opened in May of that year. The building was then extended together with the aircraft apron in 1959. The building was vacated in 1968 with the opening of the new terminal. The Nicosia Flying Club and other flying organisations continued to use the old building. The RAF withdrew from the airfield in 1966 due to limited space brought on by vastly increasing civilian aircraft movements. On 27 March 1968 a modern new terminal, designed by a West German company Dorsch und Gehrmann from Wiesbaden, and built by Cybarco, was opened at a cost of £1,100,000, of which £500,000 was contributed by Britain. The new terminal could accommodate 800 passengers at one time and the parking apron could handle eleven aircraft. In June 1974, plans were in place for the terminal to be extended and the apron to be enlarged to 16 aircraft, of which two places were to be for widebody aircraft.