Cyprus is moving to upgrade two major military bases with US backing, reinforcing its role as a safe haven in the Eastern Mediterranean for people fleeing conflict in the Middle East and as a humanitarian hub.
The effort focuses on the Evangelos Florakis naval base, Cyprus’ main naval facility, located just 142 miles (229 km) from Lebanon’s coast. US European Command will fund a new heliport there, built to accommodate large Chinook-type transport helicopters used to airlift evacuees out of conflict zones.
In the island nation’s southwest, Cyprus will also expand the Andreas Papandreou air base. The project includes a new apron designed to handle dozens of heavy-lift military transport aircraft carrying personnel and equipment for regional humanitarian missions. Lt. Col. Paris Samoutis, a spokesperson for Cyprus’ National Guard, said the expanded base will allow aircraft to refuel and undergo maintenance more quickly.
Cyprus upgrades bases with US backing for humanitarian operations
The two projects are part of a broader modernization program for both bases aimed at helping Cyprus support large-scale humanitarian crisis operations. Construction is expected to begin next year.
Officials have not disclosed total funding for the projects, as cost assessments have not yet been completed. According to Samoutis, the United States has already provided about $588,000 (€500,000) for a development plan that will determine the full cost of the air base expansion and the new apron.
Cypriot officials say the US-backed upgrades will help the country meet the demands of major humanitarian emergencies in the region.
Cyprus strengthens ties with the West
Such US support would have been unlikely only a little more than a decade ago, when Cyprus still maintained its long-standing non-aligned diplomatic posture. Since then, the country has moved decisively closer to the West.
That shift accelerated under President Nikos Christodoulides, who studied in the United States. His administration helped end the decades-old US arms embargo on Cyprus and opened the way for broader strategic and business cooperation. Since taking office in 2023, Christodoulides has emphasized Cyprus’ geographic importance, presenting the island to European Union leaders and successive US administrations as a natural diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian bridge between the West and a volatile Middle East.
Cyprus broadens regional role
For years, the US military largely relied on the two British military bases in Cyprus, which the United Kingdom retained after the island gained independence in 1960. On March 2, a Shahed drone struck an aircraft hangar at one of those sites, RAF Akrotiri, in an attack that Cypriot officials said originated in Lebanon. The upgrade of Cyprus’ own military infrastructure gives Washington and its European partners, including France, additional options in the region.
Cyprus has already served an intermediary role during recent emergencies. In April 2023, it became a transit point for repatriating third-country nationals from conflict-hit Sudan. In June 2025, when the United States and Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities, the island again served as a staging point for people leaving Israel and for Israelis stranded abroad who were trying to return home.
The country also activated what it called the Amalthea maritime corridor in 2024 to move thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Gaza, first directly and later through the Israeli port of Ashdod. Several EU partners and other countries have deployed civilian staff, troops, helicopters, and aircraft to Cyprus to support potential evacuations of their citizens. In 2024, the United States deployed a Marine contingent to Paphos air base along with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to assist with evacuations from Lebanon. Christodoulides has made clear that Cyprus’ military facilities will serve strictly humanitarian missions and not offensive military action.
Cyprus bases to expand defense and firefighting capacity with US backing
Samoutis reported that aside from the new heliport, authorities also plan to revamp port facilities so larger warships, including frigates bigger than Cyprus’ current fleet of lighter vessels, can be accommodated. Those ships, he said, would provide air defense through onboard radar and missile systems for transport helicopters arriving and departing during crisis operations.
Furthermore, the Andreas Papandreou air base will host a newly established regional firefighting coordination center designed to help neighboring Middle Eastern countries respond to major wildfires. Officials plan to open the center next month.
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