Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Hi all

We are looking to come to North Cyprus for the first time this year. It looks like we can fly into either the South or the North. Having flown into the South a couple of times before I probably feel more comfortable doing that, but I wondered if anyone had flown into the North via Turkey and how they found it.

Loads of people fly into the North without a problem. Only problem really is getting a flight that means you don't have to wait too long for conncection in Istanbul. You need also to decide who to fy with because Pegasus and Turkish Airlines use different airports. We have had to wait for 4 hours before for the connecting flight from Istanbul to Ercan which is too long but it can be a couple of hours and that is OK. That is with Pegasus who fly to the old airport and you can transfer easily and you do not have to transfer your luggage.

If you fly with Turkish Airlines they fly to the new airport and there is discussion on here about how long the wait is between connections as it can be a long walk between the gates. Have a look in the search function there is a lot of information.

Many people still prefer to fly into the South and cross over the border but for those of us who live here that 'can' create problems with the Border staff in Larnaca because they consider us to be illegally in the Country. Holiday arrivals don't get that sort of grief. Larnaca is more often than not a lot cheaper hence many still travel that route.

Flying to Ercan, which is our preferred path, in most cases is more expensive and flights take longer. Best I've ever found was 6h 30m. However transfers from Ercan are slightly cheaper and transfer times more so. So it depends on when you want to come, how long you're prepared to take to take to get here and how much you're prepared to pay.

We find it is usually best to check flight times and prices for North and South with the likes of Skyscanner and also with the airlines direct well in advance and at least once a week. Only then will you get a real feel for what is right for you roundabout the date and time you want to travel as booking as early as possible won't always be at the best price.

Assuming you are flying from Manchester with a "handle" of Boothstownred, the flights to Ercan with TA have a stop over of less than 3 hrs in Istanbul in both directions and cost PP of about £375, first time we came we had a couple of days in Istanbul first, after that came about 6 times per year for 8 years then retired here 7 years ago, never flown into the South but virtually all friends and relatives fly via the South because it is usually cheaper

Sorry should have said flights cost about £375 PP in May

Thank you all for your replies. We have plumped with flying into Larnaca first time round. This is partly a holiday and partly a bit if fact finding to see if it is a place we feel we can retire to. Really looking forward to it.