We will examine at a political level Turkey's decision not to ban flights on Russian aircraft and we will assess whether we will change our own decision to close the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Mr. Yiannis Karousos, said today, when asked, at a press conference, to answer a question whether the Republic will activate the reservation expressed in the Foreign Affairs Council to review the decision on closure of its airspace.
At the same time, both the Minister of Transport and the Deputy Minister of Tourism stressed that we must not forget that at the moment there is a war in Ukraine and this affects not only flights but also Russia's own economy.
As Mr. Karousos characteristically stated, "First of all, let's say that we have a war in Ukraine and whatever happens, Russia's economy has been affected so negatively that even if there was no flight ban we would not have the tourists we expected. The measures and sanctions are so difficult and harsh that we see that they have affected Russia's economy.
We have 1.6 million passengers that we estimated would come from these markets. When the issue was raised in the EU's Foreign Affairs Council and the matter was discussed, we succeeded in getting this reservation on record that we reserve our right to reconsider or change our position if Turkey does not implement it or if it tries to instrumentalise the issue with the occupied territories. We have heard the statements from Turkey, it is something that we will discuss with both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Republic himself in order to take the decisions. For the time being, our decision, the one that was decided in the Council, is in force, but I stress that we are the only country that had a reservation, that has been recorded and which, as far as I have been informed, has also been excluded in legal ways to guarantee this reservation of ours. The rest is a matter of both foreign policy and the President of the Republic, which we will see depending on developments.
I stress again, however, that we have a war and a country that is involved in a war, with the sanctions that exist, to take it for granted in the planning of all and the Government and the bodies that deal directly or indirectly with air transport or tourism, that we will not have tourists from these countries, regardless of whether or not there is a ban on flights".
Continuing, the Minister of Transport pointed out that attention is now turning to actions that will attract new markets, in an attempt to fill as far as possible the gap created by the Russian and Ukrainian markets. "We have excellent cooperation with the Airport Manager as well, we also have the experience from the coronavirus that we proved in the crisis that with a proper, methodical and collective effort and cooperation, we can have results," he said.
"You don't see the result of TUS today because of the situation in Ukraine. It's the result of last year's work essentially. We push companies, we make teleconferences with companies, we prove with statistics that there is interest and a route can be profitable. As we have heard today, in Brussels, at the main airport, there will be a flight at a convenient time for citizens who are interested in travelling. The fact that there was no route to Brussels we were close to subsidizing it with several million and the fact that TUS includes this route in its planning, saves us enough money which we will use elsewhere", explained the Minister.
Referring also to the connectivity with Saudi Arabia, Mr. Karousos noted that it was a market, which the Deputy Ministry of Tourism had included in its strategy and after visits and contacts of the Deputy Minister, air connectivity was achieved. "When we have connectivity the rest will follow whether it's tourism or business or whatever. In 2021 we had more destinations than in 2019, which was better in terms of passenger traffic and we will continue because it is time to move away from some super-dependencies that we have from some markets. It is an opportunity in the midst of a crisis, a window. There is interest from other airlines as well. Politically we will do what we have to do to protect the country's economy and you will see more positive news on the issue of air connectivity", underlined the Minister of Transport.
In response to the same question, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Savvas Perdios, reiterated that we must be very restrained regarding the Russian-speaking markets, given that at the moment there is a war that no one knows when it will end or when we will be able to reopen our skies for the Russian market, no one knows after we will open them when they will allow us to be on either side. He added that in any case, we should not underestimate the blow suffered by the Russian economy due to the sanctions imposed. "Where the ruble arrived, and flights were open, I very much doubt if we could have tourism from this market or at least in these numbers that we used to have," noted Mr. Perdios.
This is, he continued, a very serious issue and we should all deal with the tourism and air transport sector, "work on a scenario where arrivals from these markets will be minimal to non-existent". He expressed the hope that along the way there will be an improvement in the situation, stressing however that "we have an obligation to ourselves and the tourism operators to think about the worst case scenario from these two markets, so that we can make in time the moves we need to make to make up for what is replenished". We should, mr Perdios said, bear in mind that the situation may not improve any time soon.
Speaking about the opening of Cyprus to new markets, the Deputy Minister of Tourism pointed out that the connection of our country with markets such as Saudi Arabia and France is the result of targeted actions that preceded it. "As far as France is concerned, I have said it so many times, it is a market that we wrongly did not have in Cyprus. For me it is by far the best market in the European Union, not only in terms of expenditure, but because the French are of high quality and as people - they understand from culture, from food, from wine, from nature. So it is a clientele that will greatly appreciate Cyprus. It is the number one market in which the Deputy Ministry does marketing. It may sound strange that we are marketing in a country where we do not have connectivity. But which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Will an airline come to risk putting flights for us when we have not created demand in that market for Cyprus through marketing? And there, one brings the other," Mr. Perdios said.
