Filenews 24 October 2025
The 2025 summer season ended with Cyprus making history in its skies. The Nicosia FIR and the country's two international airports experienced the largest air traffic ever recorded, confirming the increasingly pivotal role of Cyprus on the map of European air navigation. This development constitutes a new record in flight traffic.
The Pancyprian Air Traffic Controllers Guild in a statement notes that despite the increased operational requirements and the difficult geopolitical environment, the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) succeeded in managing this unprecedented load safely and without delays, earning the praise of the international organization EUROCONTROL.
According to the latest data, EUROCONTROL predicts for Cyprus the largest increase in flights across Europe in the next five years, which highlights the country's strategic importance in the region's air network.
However, despite this positive picture, the reality behind the screens of the control towers is more worrying. Severe understaffing in the Control Units threatens to lead to significant delays in the coming years. At least 50 new VET are already needed both to cover retirements and to staff additional positions, necessary to manage the ever-increasing traffic. Nevertheless, only the first 15 positions are expected to be announced, without any information about the rest.
The Department of Civil Aviation has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Public Administration and Personnel to speed up the procedures, but the delay in decisions is already considered capable of negatively affecting the image of Cyprus as a reliable aviation hub. Even if the green light is given immediately for all positions, the required training time makes it impossible to simultaneously strengthen the units.
"The damage has already been done," is emphasized by official sources, who sound the alarm about the country's operational performance.
The focus remains on the need for an immediate political decision that will allow early training planning. Air traffic, as underlined, is a living organism that is constantly changing and requires flexibility, foresight and quick reflexes from the competent bodies, without allowing the paralyzing rhythm of bureaucracy.
See the graph in detail - https://www.philenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/eurocontrol-seven-year-forecast-2025-2031-october-2025-1.pdf
