Cyprus Airways Supports Growth Plans with Addition of Airbus Plane to Fleet

Cyprus Airways on Thursday announced the launch of its new Athens-Paphos route and the addition of an Airbus A319 aircraft to its fleet in March 2020 to support its growth plans.

Based in Larnaca, the Cypriot carrier currently operates a fleet of two Airbus A319 aircraft. Aiming to give travelers more travel options, the airline has launched a number of interline and codeshare agreements with various airlines.

“We are increasing our fleet to help us achieve our goals in the future… It may only be one plane but we are excited because we are taking slow and steady steps as a company, while studying the competition around us,” said Cyprus Airways PR and Marketing Manager Kiki Haida during a press conference in Athens.

Cyprus Airways’ third Airbus A319 aircraft will be integrated into the airline’s summer 2020 schedule, which will include additional frequency to Athens and a number of new routes, including the announced Athens-Paphos route, as well as an Athens – Tel Aviv weekly route and a Larnaca-Cairo route, both scheduled to operate in the summer.

From its base in Larnaca, the airline currently operates 10 weekly flights to Athens; two flights to Thessaloniki and Heraklion, Crete; six flights to Tel Aviv; and two flights to Beirut and Prague.

“We want people to believe in us and become our loyal customers,” Haida said, adding that Cyprus Airways’ vision is to be the preferred airline in the region.

Last year, Cyprus Airways flew some 400,000 passengers on all its routes with Greece having the largest share.

“We transported 185,000 passengers in 2019 between Greece and Cyprus, which is a large number for us and one we are proud of… In 2019 we exceeded our expectations,” Haida said.

Cyprus among Athens Airport’s top markets

On her part, Ioanna Papadopoulou, the director of communications and marketing at Athens International Airport (AIA) welcomed the new Athens-Paphos route, which has been operating three times a week since December 21 and now gives travelers another destination in Cyprus to visit from the Greek capital.

“Cyprus Airways’ new route connecting Athens with the beautiful Paphos, is an addition to our airport network which makes us very pleased, as it further enhances the rapidly growing market of Cyprus, which we have special ties with,” she said.

According to data presented by Papadopoulou, the market of Cyprus has recorded years of steady growth since 2013, which was the year after the crisis and when development returned to Greece.

In 2019, the traffic volumes to Cyprus from Athens exceeded over 1 million passengers for the fourth year since 2016.

“The market of Cyprus is healthy and is included in our top markets… In 2019 Cyprus was the sixth largest markets for AIA in terms of foreign arrivals, recording a 6 percent increase compared to 2018, when international arrivals overall in 2019 were up by 12 percent, compared to the year before,” she said.

Papadopoulou also applauded the airline’s decision to launch the Athens – Tel Aviv weekly direct route in June, which will operate during the summer months.

Cyprus Airways’ summer 2020 schedule

In summer 2020, Cyprus Airways’ schedule will include routes from Larnaca to a total of eight Greek destinations: 14 weekly flights to Athens, 4 weekly flights to Thessaloniki and 2 weekly flights to the destinations of Heraklion, Rhodes, Corfu, Preveza, Santorini and Skiathos.

The airline this summer will fly twice a week from Larnaca to Zurich, Bratislava, Prague, Rome and Verona; and once a week to Geneva and Kosice.

In addition to its flights from Larnaca to Tel Aviv (13 weekly) and Beirut (8 weekly), Cyprus Airways will also also launch a Larnaca-Cairo route this summer, which will operate three times a week.

Moreover, the airline will fly from Bratislava direct to Rhodes and Corfu; and launch a weekly connection between Kosice and Corfu.

Cyprus Airways has interline agreements with Qatar Airways, Sky Express and Arkia Air, as well as codeshare agreements with Bulgaria Air and Blue Air.