NICOSIA, May 13. /TASS/. A plane bound for Cyprus to deliver medical equipment from China has set its course for Moscow over Turkey’s refusal to allow it to fly through its airspace, Cyprus’s Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yiannis Karousos told the Cyprus News Agency on Wednesday.

The decision to change the plane’s course has been made, considering that the aircraft does not have enough fuel to bypass the Turkish airspace, the minister said.

"The pilot has changed the route and is heading for the Moscow airport for landing and refueling," the minister said.

The flight has been organized with the participation of Cyprus’s Health Ministry and the embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in China to ensure more effective fight against the coronavirus, the minister stressed.

The plane was expected to arrive in Cyprus at 20:00 local time (the Cyprus summer time coincides with the Moscow time) to deliver face masks, shoe covers, disposable surgical suits and other protective clothing weighing a total of 36 tonnes.

The minister also said that now the Cypriot authorities would lodge a diplomatic protest over Ankara’s actions.

A TASS source in the Russian aviation authorities noted that this was a cargo flight of Russia’s airline Azur Air from Tianjin to Larnaca.