Six additional fire fighting aircraft are available from Tuesday to the Department of Forests of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment to contribute to the work of combating fires.

A joint press release by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, said on Monday two Air Tractor AT802 aircraft arrived in Cyprus from Argentina, while this afternoon two more aircraft of the same make are expected to arrive from Australia.

This, it is reported, "was achieved after the successful outcome of the offers for the lease of four aircraft".

The cost of leasing two of the four aircraft will be covered by the EU RescEU mechanism.

It is emphasised that the effective coordination and cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the National Guard and the Ministry of Interior, led to another important addition to the flying means that the Department of Forests will have at its disposal from today.

In particular, the concession by Egypt of two helicopters with their 17-member crew was achieved, which were expected to arrive in Cyprus at noon.

"The cooperation with neighbouring countries, the result of which is the stationing of Jordanian helicopters on the island, confirms the positive results of the multilevel foreign policy of the government of Nikos Christodoulides and the excellent cooperation of Cyprus with neighboring countries," the statement said.

Once all the appropriate controls and the necessary information and training of the crews are completed, the aircraft will be put on immediate fire readiness, the statement added.