NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ government is upset it was kept in the dark.
When an Iranian-made Shahed drone struck a hangar at a British air base on Cyprus' southern coastline minutes after midnight on March 2, sirens had already been blaring on the base's grounds, warning personnel to take cover.
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FILE - A U-2 spy aircraft lands at the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base, near Limassol, Cyprus, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - British paratroopers with the 16th Air Assault Brigade line up to board a C-130 transport aircraft at RAF Akrotiri air base in Cyprus for an airdrop over Jordan as part of a joint exercise with Jordanian soldiers, June 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - The gate of the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base at sunset after it was struck by a drone earlier in the morning near Limassol, Cyprus, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - F-35B aircraft pass on a runway after landing at the Akrotiri Royal air forces base near city of Limassol, Cyprus, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias,File)
FILE - British soldiers wave to the F-35B aircraft after landing at Akrotiri Royal air forces base near city of Limassol, Cyprus, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - A British soldier walks by a Typhoon aircraft before take off for a mission in Iraq, at RAF Akrotiri, near the southern coastal city of Limassol, Cyprus, Sept. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
But the British had not informed the Cypriot government, and now the east Mediterranean island nation wants to re-evaluate the status of Britain's two bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
The British warship HMS Dragon was on Tuesday making its way toward waters off Cyprus to offer additional protection from any potential attack.
Here's what we know about what could happen with the bases.
On March 1, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.S. would be allowed to use British bases for the “specific and limited defensive purpose” of hitting Iran’s missile storage and launch sites. The announcement prompted concern among Cypriot authorities, appearing to contradict British assurances they wouldn’t use the island's bases. British officials later specified that the bases in question are located in England and the Indian Ocean, not Cyprus.
The following evening — according to two senior Cypriot officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter — British authorities gave Cyprus' government no warning of a drone heading toward the RAF Akrotiri base, nor that a nearby village of 1,000 people could potentially be in danger.
Asked about the Cyprus complaint, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence did not address the question directly but repeated that the U.K.-Cyprus longstanding friendship remains “strong in the face of Iranian threats” and that the bases “play a crucial role in supporting the safety of British citizens and our allies in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East.”
The experience has prompted President Nikos Christodoulides to call for a “frank and open discussion” with the U.K. government about the future of the bases.
“I’m not going to negotiate publicly, I’m not going to put my request publicly, but we need to open this discussion,” Christodoulides said at the European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels on March 20. “The British bases in Cyprus is something that is a colonial consequence.”
Starmer’s office said in a statement that he had spoken to Christodoulides at the weekend to reassure him that, “as close partners and friends, Cyprus’ security was of utmost importance to the U.K.” Starmer is also said to have reiterated that RAF Akrotiri would not be used for any U.S. strikes on Iran.
Cyprus gained independence from British rule on in August 1960 after a four-year guerrilla campaign which came at a price — Britain retaining two bases spanning 99 square miles (256 square kilometers).
Their creation is enshrined in Cyprus' constitution. The Sovereign Base Areas have their own police force and courts and, in the strictest legal terms, are British colonial territory, according to Costas Clerides, the island's former attorney general.
Nearly 66 years later, many Cypriots — including Christodoulides — regard the bases as reminders of their colonial past. Some 10,000 Cypriot citizens live inside bases' territory and are subject to bases’ authority.
Calls to abolish the bases have been raised previously, particularly when they are used for military action in the region. Peaceful protests against their continued presence have been far smaller than in the past.
While created primarily to monitor shipping traffic through the Suez Canal and secure the flow of Middle Eastern oil, the bases have done far more.
RAF Akrotiri is still home to the famed U2 spy plane that conducts high-altitude surveillance flights over the Middle East. It also served as a key logistical post for the U.S. operation in Iraq in 2003 and, more recently, was used to prosecute the campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. The bases also feature a mountaintop listening post to monitor communications in the Middle East and beyond.
Successive Cypriot governments have said that Britain would inform the authorities of any military action undertaken from the bases, but that's understood more as a courtesy than an obligation.
“We are playing a leading role, with the Republic of Cyprus, in coordinating the increasing capabilities in the eastern Mediterranean, to help that sovereign base to remain as protected as possible in the circumstances and in the face of the Iranian threat,” U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament on Monday.
Christodoulides said last week that Cyprus has “a clear approach with regard to the future of the British bases.” He declined to provide any details, but said any negotiation with the U.K. would take place after the end of the Iran war.
The Cypriot government has stated publicly that abolition wouldn't be on the table — at least for now.
Any dialogue would employ a step-by-step approach to secure more transparency of base operations, such as additional information and intelligence gathering, according to the Cypriot officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not rule out a renegotiation of the status of the bases along the lines of the agreement the U.K. struck last year with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
The U.K. agreed to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius, and pay an average 101 million pounds ($135 million) annually to lease the base for at least 99 years.
U.S. bombers now use the U.K. base on Chagos' largest island, Diego Garcia, to strike Iran.
On Sunday, Iran said it launched missiles at Diego Garcia.
AP writer Jill Lawless in London contributed.
FILE - A U-2 spy aircraft lands at the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base, near Limassol, Cyprus, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - British paratroopers with the 16th Air Assault Brigade line up to board a C-130 transport aircraft at RAF Akrotiri air base in Cyprus for an airdrop over Jordan as part of a joint exercise with Jordanian soldiers, June 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - The gate of the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base at sunset after it was struck by a drone earlier in the morning near Limassol, Cyprus, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - F-35B aircraft pass on a runway after landing at the Akrotiri Royal air forces base near city of Limassol, Cyprus, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias,File)
FILE - British soldiers wave to the F-35B aircraft after landing at Akrotiri Royal air forces base near city of Limassol, Cyprus, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
FILE - A British soldier walks by a Typhoon aircraft before take off for a mission in Iraq, at RAF Akrotiri, near the southern coastal city of Limassol, Cyprus, Sept. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
Senators are discussing a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including Transportation Security Administration airport workers who are going without pay. The deal would exclude U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's removal operations, which have been core to the dispute.
As U.S. airports remain jammed with long lines due to short staffing at TSA, President Donald Trump ordered ICE officers to provide airport security, alarming some lawmakers.
DHS is now being overseen by Markwayne Mullin, whose nomination the Senate approved on Monday. Mullin has tried to present himself as a steady hand, saying his goal as secretary would be to get the department off the front page of the news.
Here's the latest:
“Today I walked straight to the front,” Amanda Stewart wrote on Facebook, where she shared a video of a handful of people walking up to a mostly-empty TSA checkpoint inside Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
After hearing about Monday’s delays — during which lines stretched out to the airport parking garage — Stewart was worried she would miss her flight to Kansas City, Missouri, especially because she left her home in Houma, Louisiana, later than she had hoped.
But the maze of stanchions set up to control long lines was empty, and she sailed right through security, she said.
Stewart noticed similarly calm conditions when she landed at Kansas City International Airport.
“A decision was made to take it offline due to the estimated wait times being inaccurate,” an airport spokesperson told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday.
“Our system is designed to track passenger flow at the beginning of the security checkpoint area,” said Alnissa Ruiz-Craig, interim director of communications and media affairs at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. “With the increase in passenger traffic, sometimes extending to our baggage claim area and beyond, it does not capture that portion of the queue and, in turn, is not providing an accurate projection.”
Atlanta’s airport is one of the world’s busiest and has been the scene of hourslong waits to get through security in recent days.
Federal immigration officers didn’t appear very busy Tuesday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Security check-in lines were fairly short and seemed to move without delays. Many flights were canceled two days after Sunday’s deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck.
More than a dozen federal officers wearing tactical vests were on duty Tuesday at one of LaGuardia’s three terminals. Four of them stood near the checkpoint where TSA agents were reviewing passenger IDs, but weren’t actively assisting.
Elsewhere in the terminal, an Associated Press photographer saw immigration officers huddled in small groups, talking among themselves and occasionally chatting with passersby. Some officers were sipping coffee.
At least 300 inbound and departing flights at LaGuardia were canceled Tuesday, and about the same number were delayed, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
At Philadelphia International Airport, two TSA security checkpoints are temporarily closed, but passenger lines at the remaining checkpoints were moving smoothly, with wait times under 10 minutes Tuesday morning.
An Associated Press journalist also saw several ICE agents in the terminals, positioned away from the main TSA screening areas.
A protester was also at one of the checkpoints holding a sign criticizing ICE.
“Next to safety, Delta’s no. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The airline cited the “impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown” in its decision.
The airline’s congressional services typically include airport escorts and red coat services. The suspension means that members of Congress who fly with Delta will be treated like other passengers based on their SkyMiles status, the company confirmed.
Delta’s Capital Desk reservations line remains open.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported news of the service’s suspension.
Federal officers wearing green tactical vests were seen working alongside TSA agents Tuesday behind a security checkpoint at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
The two federal officers stood with TSA agents at an X-ray machine used to scan baggage at one of the airport’s five terminals. One officer’s vest identified him as ICE personnel. The second had a vest patch that read: “federal agent.”
Security lines appeared to be moving normally at O’Hare, with no obvious signs of delays.
An Associated Press photographer at the airport also saw five agents in black vests designating them as Homeland Security officers walking through a different terminal and getting into a vehicle parked outside.
Since the shutdown began Valentine’s Day, at least 458 TSA officers have quit altogether, according to DHS.
Nationwide on Monday, nearly 11% of TSA workers — more than 3,200 — missed work.
DHS figures show the callout rate at some major airports was three or nearly four times higher:
— William P. Hobby International Airport in Houston: 40%
— Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport: 37%
— George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston: 36%
— John F. Kennedy International Airport: 34%
— Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans: 35%
— Baltimore-Washington International Airport: 30%
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport confirmed that CLEAR and TSA PreCheck were not available at its checkpoints on Tuesday. George Bush Intercontinental saw some of the most significant disruptions, with wait times for general screenings averaging about four hours as of midday.
Other airports have narrowed the availability of priority screenings.
Miami International Airport, for example, noted on its website that several of its priority and PreCheck lanes were also closed at certain checkpoints on Tuesday — but those options were still available at other entries.
Airport conditions have become increasingly unpredictable as the shutdown drags on, with staffing shortages driving uncertain wait times.
Complicating matters, the airport wait times listed in the MyTSA mobile app and third-party trackers may be outdated right now because TSA isn’t actively updating its websites during the shutdown.
So what can travelers do in the meantime?
Travel industry analysts recommend checking an airport’s website and social media feeds. Many airports have been posting timely updates and guidance on the social platform X, often including terminal-specific information.
Even so, conditions can change quickly. Travelers should check early and often, not just before leaving for the airport. Build extra buffer time into travel plans and have backup options in place, such as renting a car or flying out of nearby airports.
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport suggested travelers should find a bathroom before getting into security lines, where the wait could last as long as four hours Tuesday.
The airport said lines could stretch down to the subway tunnel, which was “not designed for queuing and does not have restrooms or food options.”
Faster security options, known as CLEAR and TSA PreCheck, were not available for travelers at terminals A and E. People were moving slowly in at least eight lines at times.
Travelers headed to LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York — as well as Newark Liberty International in neighboring New Jersey — still couldn’t check online TSA wait times Tuesday morning.
All three airports said this week that they had temporarily suspended the live security wait times they typically provide on their websites, due to “rapid” changes in passenger volumes and TSA staffing.
Beyond TSA waits, LaGuardia saw additional delays and cancellations after it temporarily shut down following Sunday night’s fatal collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck on the airport’s runway.
“Please allow for significantly more time and check with your airline for the current status of your flight,” the airport wrote on social media Monday.
Nationwide on Sunday, 11.8% of TSA agents missed work — the highest rate of the shutdown so far — with over 3,450 officers calling out, according to DHS. More than 400 officers have quit during the shutdown, the department said.
Some have accused the government of using TSA workers as pawns in the ongoing budget fight. And aviation unions have raised additional safety concerns in light of the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE officers.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations would be funded, as well as Customs and Border Protection — but with new guardrails to position officers from those divisions in their traditional roles, rather than as they have been used more recently in immigration roundups.
It would also include immigration operations changes that Democrats have demanded, including mandating officers to wear body cameras and identification.
Since so much of ICE is already funded through Trump’s big tax breaks bill, and immigration officers are still receiving paychecks during the partial government shutdown, senators said the new restraints also would be imposed on operations that rely on that funding source.
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A National Transportation Safety Board specialist who was trying to get to New York’s LaGuardia Airport to help investigate a deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck ran into wider airport delays on Monday.
The air-traffic control specialist, who was flying from Houston, “was in line with TSA for three hours,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Monday evening. The NTSB called officials there to “beg” to get her through, Homendy said.
Routine funding for the department has lapsed since Feb. 14, leading to long waits at U.S. airports as Transportation Security Administration agents call out rather than work without pay.
Democrats are demanding that the Trump administration make changes in immigration enforcement operations following the deaths of two U.S. citizens during protests this year in Minneapolis. Trump has refused the latest proposal, and talks have stalled.
A day after the Trump administration began deploying federal immigration officers at some airports’ security checkpoints, long lines and hourslong waits persisted.
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport said wait times at standard security checkpoints ranged from three and a half to four hours Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International urged travelers to allow at least four hours for both domestic and international screenings.
Baltimore-Washington International advised passengers to arrive three hours before their flights, noting that while wait times were “currently minimal,” that could change.
After weeks of missed paychecks, many TSA agents have called in sick or even quit their jobs under the financial strain. That’s forced some airports to close checkpoints at times, with wait times swinging dramatically.
Some airports are reporting shorter wait times — including Los Angeles International and Detroit Metro Airport, whose online trackers showed average waits of just several minutes early Tuesday.
Federal law enforcement officers are a routine presence at international airports. Customs and Border Protection officers screen arriving passengers, and Homeland Security Investigations agents conduct criminal inquiries tied to cross-border activity.
But immigration agents are rarely visible at TSA checkpoints, the front line of domestic air travel.
On Monday, Associated Press journalists observed ICE officers and agents patrolling terminals and lingering near long lines of passengers at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International, John F. Kennedy International in New York, Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston and Louis Armstrong International outside New Orleans.
A handful of other airports — including Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International — also confirmed ICE would be on-site.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office was monitoring the deployment of federal officers at O’Hare International.
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“All I can say is that the discussions have been very positive and productive, and hopefully headed in the right direction,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters late in the evening: “Both sides are working in a serious way.”
Senators are discussing a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including Transportation Security Administration airport workers who are going without pay, but excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations, which have been core to the dispute.
The potential breakthrough came after a group of Republican senators headed to the White House late Monday to meet with President Donald Trump. Senators said they expected the negotiators to work through the night, hammering out the details and present written proposals for both parties to discuss Tuesday at their weekly caucus lunches.
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Federal immigration officers walk though the terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Delayed flight times are displayed at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Air travelers progress through the long lines for the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Federal immigration agents walk through Terminal A at Newark International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
People wait in a TSA security line at Terminal A of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in Newark, N.J., U.S., Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
