Cyprus pleads for help with Lebanon exodus

"So far the situation is under control but we have reached our limit," Communications Minister Haris Thrassou said as the number of evacuees reaching the Mediterranean island of less than a million people hit 35,000.

He said more evacuees were coming in than there were aircraft to take them off the island and said the response from fellow European Union members to a request for more planes "was not what we expected".

More aircraft were still desperately needed, he said, with the Lebanon exodus coinciding with the island's peak summer tourist season.

"If the arrivals are more than the departures the numbers of those staying will slowly increase and our infrastructure will not be able to respond," Thrassou said.

He complained that there had also been a "lack of coordination" from foreign embassies in handling the evacuations.

"Planes are landing at the airport but there are no passengers to take or vice versa," he said.

Of the 35,000 evacuees brought out in 55 separate sailings over the past week only 23,000 have so far been flow out of the island, overwhelming the island's hotel space.

The US embassy has set up a makeshift transit centre for its nationals at the state fair ground in the capital Nicosia.

Schools and indoor sports stadiums are also being made available to accommodate evacuees as authorities struggle to cope with the bottleneck.

Around 4,500 more evacuees were due to be flown home Monday.

On Sunday alone, there were 300 flights and 40 helicopter runs.