Filenews 14 June 2024
The load factor of aircraft arriving in Cyprus in May rose to around 85%, while it is currently increased, said Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development and Communication at Hermes Airports, adding that on a daily basis about 41,000 passengers depart from or arrive at Larnaka and Pafos airports.
Kouroupi noted that "the summer season started much better than we expected at the beginning of the year, when there was a loss of air seats mainly due to the war in Israel and problems from an airline, which was forced to reduce seats and aircraft flying to Cyprus."
However, she continued, "in recent months, after various actions and efforts made, we managed to recover much of the availability of seats that had been lost."
Asked what is happening with the purchase from Israel, Kouroupi replied that "from this country we are about 90% of what the year would normally be, since a certain company has added airline seats, meaning there is almost a reset of its flight schedule."
She also said that "there are increases from other airlines, either in the form of new routes or adding airline seats to existing routes."
The summer season, she noted, "is going very well. May was 4% higher than last year and overall since the beginning of the year we are 5% higher than last year, with occupancy rates that are higher than last year. Things are going well, in terms of passenger traffic," she said.
Replying to a question, Kouroupi said that "of course Cypriots also travel, but most of the air traffic concerns visitors to our island. We believe that the fact that passenger traffic is doing well means that there are also good prospects for the tourism industry."
Asked if there are new routes this year, she replied in the affirmative and noted that "among the new routes are Belfast in Ireland, Nantes in France, Tallinn in Estonia, Radom in Poland and Liverpool in Britain. Some seasonal routes have also been added from various regional airports in the Nordic countries, while the availability of air seats from both Britain and Poland has increased," she said.
In general, Kouroupi said, "we see that there is a great potential from various countries, while on a daily basis we have about 41,000 departing and arriving passengers at both airports in Cyprus. The occupancy rate in May was around 85% and has increased during this period," she noted.
Regarding the Russian market, Maria Kouroupi said that "despite the fact that there are no direct flights from Russia to Cyprus, there is a steady flow of arrivals of visitors from this country to our island through other countries. We believe that this year will be a good tourist year", she concluded.
CNA
