Cars which were subject to a recall due to being fitted with potentially faulty airbags manufactured by Japanese company Takata will begin to be immobilised from Friday if they have not had their airbags replaced, the road transport department confirmed on Thursday.

Friday will mark the expiration of an eight-month grace period allocated in February when Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades decreed the recall of over 80,000 cars which are fitted with Takata airbags.

The road transport department explained that vehicles will begin to have their road tax and MOT certificates rescinded on Friday until October 30, “on a different date for each make of vehicle, depending on the day on which official information was submitted by each manufacturer to the department and to the owners”.

People can find the final date for their vehicle’s manufacturer’s airbag to be replaced at www.gov.cy/mtcw.

It estimates that around 16,900 vehicles – around 20 per cent of those recalled – have not yet had their airbags replaced and are therefore set to be immobilised within the next four weeks.

Of those 16,900, it said, around 5,000 vehicles are Toyotas, while a further 2,000 are Hondas. It then stressed that “for all vehicles of which the owners have not responded, no extension will be granted” to allow them to replace the airbags before their MOT certificate is rescinded.

However, it did state that for all vehicle owners who have already arranged an appointment for their airbags to be replaced before the end of October, their MOT certificates will not be rescinded until the end of the month, thus allowing them the opportunity to have their airbags replaced.

“The eight-month deadline was set due to the seriousness of the risk and was an exception to the general framework of 18 months … That is why the timetable was strict, aiming at immediately protecting people. This decision was based on the recommendations of the manufacturing companies,” it said.

It added that affected motorists have been “informed by letters and text messages”.

“At the same time, large-scale campaigns have been carried out by the transport ministry to inform the public”.

Additionally, it called on motorists who are “unable to contact the manufacturers’ distributors or unable to locate an authorised repair shop or spare parts” to contact the road transport department for guidance.

It also said that distributors are “invited to make every effort to complete the recalls within the specified period of eight months”.

The issue of airbag safety stems from the production of faulty airbags manufactured by Takata. The company’s airbags suffer a fault related to exposure to high levels of heat or humidity, with 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.

Meanwhile, a committee was formed in the spring to investigate the history of faulty airbags in Cyprus and their import into the country, with that committee filing a report to Attorney-General George Savvides.

The report stated that the four people who served as transport minister between 2013 and 2023 – Efthymios Flourentzou, Marios Demetriades, Vasiliki Anastasiadou, and incumbent Famagusta district governor Yiannis Karousos – “bear heavy responsibility” for the issue of faulty airbags.

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.