Interesting data regarding passenger traffic during the winter season and how it has increased in recent years is recorded in the 'Beyond Sea and Sun' special edition by the airport management company, Hermes Airports.
This is a publication prepared on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Hermes Airports taking over the management of the airports in Larnaca and Paphos and comes as a follow-up to last year's successful conference organised by the company, during which the issues of seasonality, challenges and prospects of Cyprus' tourism product were discussed.
The publication hosts - among others - interventions by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, the former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios, the Chief Executive Officer of Hermes Airports, Eleni Kalogirou, and representatives of tourism bodies, such as hoteliers, tourism boards, etc.
Passenger traffic in the winter
Regarding passenger traffic during the winter season, i.e. the November-March period, according to a relevant graph, increased by almost one million passengers between 2022 and 2026.
Specifically, in the winter period 2022-2023, passenger traffic was 2.61 million, in 2023-2024 it increased to 2.93 million, in 2024-2025 to 3.15 million, while in the period November 2025-March 2026 it reached 3.55 million.
That is, within four years, it increased by 36% or by 940,000 passengers.
Larnaka Airport
Regarding the picture at airports during the winter season, 30 airlines operated flights from Larnaka Airport to 54 destinations in 33 different countries, with 42 flights per day and 115 flights per week.
During the winter season, flights were also operated to 4 new markets, namely Spain, Belgium, Slovakia and North Macedonia, and to 10 new destinations: Barcelona, Brussels, Bratislava, Skopje, Venice, Heraklion, Timisoara, Suceava, Cluj and Gyumri.
Pafos Airport
During the same period (November 2025-March 2026), 8 airlines operated flights from Pafos Airport to 35 destinations in 17 different countries, with 6 flights per day and 76 flights per week.
During the winter season, flights were also operated to a new market, that of Jordan, and to 3 new destinations: Düsseldorf, Haifa and Amman.
The graphic shows the air connectivity of the airports during the winter season:
Frequency and age groups
Regarding the passenger profile, based on data processed by Hermes Airports, 38% of travelers visited Cyprus for the first time during the winter season, 39% 1 to 2 times and 23% frequently.
Regarding the ages of visitors, 62% of passenger traffic during the winter season concerned people up to 45 years old.
Regarding where they learned about Cyprus from, 37% stated that they were informed from travel websites, 26.4% from friends and relatives and 10.5% from social media.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
