Shemaine Bushnell Kyriakides
Ah, Easter in Cyprus. A time for candlelight, family meals, and, if you’re flying through Larnaca Airport, plenty of waiting around, confusion, and gritted teeth.
As thousands of travelers flood the terminal to get home or get away for the holidays, Larnaca Airport has once again proven that “preparation” remains a foreign concept to some authorities. Despite the expected surge in passenger traffic during one of the busiest weeks of the year, many of the systems meant to make things run smoothly are either missing or not working.
Because nothing says "Happy Easter" like dodging construction barriers while dragging your luggage and trying to figure out where the taxis have been relocated to this time.
Most notably, there are no functioning ID check machines in sight. So while the airport has added a fresh coat of announcements and a few new traffic signs, the basics, like enough police officers or automated checkpoints, appear to have been left off the Easter list.
Travelers have been complaining of long queues, confusion, and the usual game of “guess which line you’re supposed to be in.”
And just to spice things up, all of this comes at the same time as Phase B of the airport upgrade works. Because nothing says "Happy Easter" like dodging construction barriers while dragging your luggage and trying to figure out where the taxis have been relocated to this time.
Hermes Airports, the operator of Larnaca Airport, did issue a statement with some helpful parking tips and routing information for buses and taxis. But for passengers caught in bottlenecks at passport checks or arriving to find self-service machines out of service, it felt a bit like being handed a map after the maze has changed.
The announcement reminded travelers that they can drop off passengers at the short-stop zone outside departures, and that parking is available across five designated areas. The message also highlighted that lot P5 has “a large number of spaces”, which sounds great in theory, if you can actually get to it through the traffic.
While Hermes emphasized the need to follow signage to find parking and navigate the temporary setup, it seems many passengers would have preferred if someone had just made sure the essentials were, well… working.
So if you’re headed to Larnaca Airport this Easter, bring patience, a good pair of walking shoes, and maybe a sense of humor. You’ll need all three.
