Air traffic to Cyprus reaches 85% capacity in May, signals promising summer

In May, the aircraft arriving in Cyprus achieved an 85% occupancy rate, and this trend is on the rise, according to Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development and Communication at Hermes Airports.

Kouroupi told CNA that approximately 41,000 passengers arrive at or depart from Larnaka and Pafos airports daily.

Speaking on 14 June, Kouroupi noted that the summer season has started much better than anticipated at the beginning of the year, when they faced a loss of air travel capacity primarily due to the war in Israel and issues with an airline that had to reduce its flights to Cyprus.

However, she continued, "in recent months, thanks to various efforts and actions, we have managed to regain much of the lost seat availability."

When asked about the market from Israel, Kouroupi responded that they are at about 90% of what the year would normally be, as a specific airline has added more seats, nearly restoring its flight schedule. She also said that there were increases from other airlines, either in the form of new routes or additional seats on existing routes.

“The summer season”, she noted, “is going very well”. May was 4% higher than last year, and overall, from the beginning of the year, they were 5% up from the previous year, with occupancy rates higher than last year.

In response to a question, Kouroupi said that although Cypriots were also traveling, the majority of air traffic involves visitors to the island.

When asked if there were new air routes this year, she confirmed and noted that among the new routes were Belfast in Ireland, Nantes in France, Tallinn in Estonia, Radom in Poland, and Liverpool in the UK. Additionally, she said that there were several seasonal routes from various regional airports in Scandinavian countries, and the availability of seats has increased from both the UK and Poland.

In general, Kouroupi said that there’s a strong dynamic from various countries, with approximately 41,000 departing and arriving passengers daily at both of Cyprus's airports. The occupancy rate in May was around 85%, and it has increased since then.

Regarding the Russian market, Maria Kouroupi said that despite the lack of direct flights from Russia to Cyprus, there’s still a steady flow of visitors from Russia to the island through other countries.

(Source: CNA)