Biggest mall set to open: The 1001 Airport Mall, at the Ercan airport junction [VIDEO]

A shopping mall billed as the country’s biggest is set to open its first section this month.

The 1001 Airport Mall, at the Ercan airport junction, will on May 22 open an initial 30,000m2 of what is to be an 80,000m2 complex.

The shopping and leisure centre is expected to have 100 shops by next year, including some rented to branded retailers from overseas, 22 restaurants, a seven-screen cinema seating 500, green areas, a playground, zoo and parking for 650 cars.

This month’s first phase will see the opening of 40 shops and 10 restaurants, plus a 250-vehicle parking area.

There are also plans to open a hotel next door by 2017. The ambitious project was started last year by 1001 Group owners M Ali Riza Ozel and Sons, who already have 11 shops around the country and had been using the mall building as a store.

Director Mehmet Akalin said they are aiming to change the public’s lifestyle and also bring more cash into the TRNC economy by attracting tourists.


”With 60 years’ experience in trade, this was our next step and we are achieving it in the best possible way, providing our people with something unique that is needed in this country,” he said.

Mr Akalin said great care had been taken to make the complex, its access, toilets and surroundings disabled-friendly.

By Yasemin Gulpinar for Cyprus Today