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Airplanes arriving in Cyprus were about 85% full in May, with numbers continuing to climb, according to Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development and Communication at Hermes Airports. Kouroupi told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday that about 41,000 passengers are passing through Larnaka and Pafos airports daily.
Kouroupi highlighted that the summer season is off to a stronger start than expected. Earlier this year, they faced challenges with reduced air travel capacity due to the conflict in Israel and issues with an airline that cut back on flights to Cyprus.
"In recent months, we've worked hard to recover much of the lost capacity," she said.
Regarding the Israeli market, Kouroupi noted they are operating at about 90% of typical levels. An airline has increased seats, nearly restoring its full schedule. Other airlines have also added new routes or extra seats on existing ones.
“The summer season is performing very well,” Kouroupi said. May's traffic was 4% higher than last year, and overall, they have seen a 5% increase since the start of the year, with planes being fuller compared to last year.
Kouroupi mentioned that while Cypriots are traveling, most of the air traffic consists of visitors to the island.
New routes this year include Belfast in Northern Ireland, Nantes in France, Tallinn in Estonia, Radom in Poland, and Liverpool in the UK. There are also several seasonal routes from regional airports in Scandinavian countries and an increase in seats from the UK and Poland.
She noted a strong demand from various countries, with daily passenger numbers at Cyprus's airports around 41,000. Planes, which were about 85% full in May, have continued to fill up more since then.
Despite the absence of direct flights from Russia, Kouroupi said there is still a steady flow of Russian visitors traveling to Cyprus through other countries.
[With information from CNA]
