French aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ arrives in Cyprus

French aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ arrived at the port of Limassol, Cyprus on Monday.

Its arrival is part of a four-month deployment through the Eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf called ‘Clemenceau 21’.

French Ambassador Salina Grenet-Catalano expressed her gratitude to the Cypriot authorities for the continuous service of French naval warships but also for the high level of hospitality and cooperation in matters of defence and security.

On his part, the captain of the aircraft carrier Captain Guillaume Pinget also thanked the Cypriot authorities for hosting in these special, as he said, conditions of the pandemic.

Limassol, he continued, is a familiar place for sailors and they are happy to rest after three months of leaving their base in Toulon and after three weeks in the Persian Gulf.

The ‘Charles de Gaulle’, which will sail from Cyprus in a week, is home to 1,200 sailors, 500 marines and about 100 naval officers, while carrying 20 Rafale fighter jets, two E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, and Dauphin Pedro helicopters.

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