Visitors can experience what it must have been like to be a passenger in the late 1960s at the now derelict Nicosia airport by taking part in a workshop “A Day at Nicosia Airport” next Saturday.

The Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation is hosting a virtual recreation of the airport – which has stood empty since 1974 – at a workshop that will also explore rare archival material and offer shared memories of the airport.

“Helping document the airport’s role in shaping Cypriot modernity, people’s contribution will help preserve the airport’s place in Cyprus’ collective memory,” the cultural foundation said in an announcement.

The workshop’s ‘recreation’ will be a tough task as the airport has been inoperable since the 1974 Turkish invasion – just six years after it was given a major facelift – and is currently under the control of Unficyp in the buffer zone.

The airport arrivals hall is now home to ripped seats, rapidly fading advertisement posters on its walls and piles of bird droppings. The cracked runways are clogged with weeds, while a solitary stripped Cyprus Airways stands as a reminder of the busy airport it once was.

Originally built for the British RAF in the 1930s, its runway and facilities were expanded during World War II.

Commercial services of the airport resumed after the war and by 1948 Cyprus Airways and BOAC, among others, provided regular flights. It was then renovated and expanded in 1968.

There have been several attempts to reopen the airport, however Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have never been able to reach an agreement.

“The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus is mandated to keep the status quo across the buffer zone, this includes the Old Nicosia Airport,” Unficyp spokesman Aleem Siddique said in March.

Unficyp continues to patrol the airport and carries out occasional works to ensure the safety of UN patrols in and around the buildings.

The reopening of Nicosia airport was last raised at the level of negotiations between the two sides during the presidency of George Vassiliou and during the early presidency of Glafcos Clerides in the late 1980s and early 1990s, without a conclusion. It was raised in the context of a discussion of Confidence Building Measures. Since then, it has never been discussed.

The workshop is part of the Cyprus Insula exhibition series of public events. It takes place at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation (BoCCF) on November 30, from 11am until 1pm at Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, 86-90 Faneromenis, 1011 Nicosia. For information call 22-128175 or visit www.boccf.org