Filenews 3 November 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
The most difficult night of its operation was spent at Pafos International Airport due to the huge volume of air traffic generated by the strike of the ground handling personnel. For the first time, aircraft were forced to park and stay all night on taxiways.
The situation experienced by passengers of many flights, from Britain in particular, was very difficult, since after the five-hour trip to Cyprus, they were, in some cases, forced to wait as long again and more on board the aircraft until the strike ended and then until they were served in matters of disembarking, picking up their luggage or finding a parking space for their aircraft on the aircraft track.
Finally, until shortly after midnight, all passengers who had arrived in Paphos from 2.00pm or who had been at the airport since noon to take the plane back to their country, were able to disembark or depart, while until noon today three planes of British carriers remain parked on taxiways since the parking was full. This is a record number of aircraft that were found landed at Paphos Airport, with a total of 17 having occupied all parking spaces and another three necessarily remaining on a taxiway.
A total of eight planes that arrived at Paphos Airport yesterday did not return to their destinations as was the original flight plan due to the chaos caused by the strike and their departure is scheduled for today at noon, since the issue of safety regulations regarding the necessary rest hours for pilots is now entering the equation.
The situation is expected to return to full normality from noon, when all yesterday's flights will depart. Now labour peace is returning to Pafos airport, since in the midst of yesterday's chaotic situation at the level of politics and guilds, the agreement that satisfied the workers in the ground service as to its employer status was reached.
