Two Cypriot firefighting aircraft participating in extinguishing the large fires in France are expected to return home on Saturday, provided the situation does not worsen, according to National Civil Protection Coordinator, Chief Fire Officer, Nikos Logginos.
He told CNA on Friday that the two aircraft sent by Cyprus ‘have contributed to a very large extent both to suppressing the active front of the fire and to dealing with re-ignitions.”
“Today appears to be the last day the aircraft will operate,” he said, adding that if everything proceeds smoothly, the aircraft will start the return process to Cyprus tomorrow, unless conditions change dramatically and new instructions are given by French Civil Protection.
Logginos added that the Cypriot aircraft are operating in an area of southwestern France, based at Perpignan airport, which is about 40 kilometres from the fire front.
Regarding Cyprus’s operational readiness, the Chief Fire Officer reassured that the country remains fully prepared despite the deployment of the two aircraft to France.
“We are on alert 24 hours a day. Eleven aircraft remain in Cyprus, and there are also those of the Bases, which can be involved in firefighting operations,” he remarked.
However, he added that the effectiveness of aerial firefighting does not depend solely on the number of airborne assets, but also on factors such as wind intensity, terrain morphology, vegetation, temperature and relative humidity.
He noted that even in countries like France and Spain, where more than 100 aircraft operate, there are cases in which fires remain particularly difficult to control.
Referring to the operation of the European rescEU mechanism, Logginos explained that when a country faces severe fires it submits a request through the European Civil Protection Mechanism for assistance. The request is then forwarded to countries that have pre-positioned aerial assets, which assess whether they can respond.
In Cyprus’s case, he said, the mission was possible because there were no active large fire fronts at home.
He also added that each mission is accompanied by a team for technical and operational support and the pilots. Upon arrival in the host country, the team is briefed by local authorities on the area’s specific conditions and is integrated into the operational planning until the mission is completed and they are released to return.