Cyprus Airways on the lookout for fake students

By Andy Georgiades

IT WILL take a lot more than just ‘looking young’ for somebody to take advantage of Cyprus Airways’ special student rates when travelling to destinations across Europe.

To qualify for the discounted fares, a representative of the airline told the Cyprus Mail that a valid student identification card should be shown to travel agents prior to the purchase of the ticket.

Mihalis Constantinou said that any travellers who later failed to produce a student I.D. at the check-in counter would “have to pay the difference” there and then.

A boarding pass will not be issued otherwise.

But one travel agent in Nicosia said that “student cards are not always necessary to be shown” prior to payment for the ticket. He sells on the good faith that the client is telling the truth.

He added that, because British Airways has a general youth fare (which applies regardless of whether one is a student or not), it may be easier for some people to get away with paying a lower rate.

But Constantinou warned that, despite what the travel agents might do, Cyprus Airways would be “double-checking” at the check-in counters.

Cyprus Airways takes pride in offering student discounts all through the year, including the Christmas and Easter holidays, “not just in summer,” said Tassos Angelis, spokesman for the airline. He added that the rates were “especially good for those students studying in Greece.”

For example, the regular rate to Athens can cost up to £153, but a student will pay £105. That amounts to savings of more than 30 per cent.

On the other hand, students travelling to London can only save about 20 per cent.

For Greece, discounts apply to those students who are 28 and younger. For Britain, you can be 30 and under.

A frequent flyer student plan is also available, but some restrictions apply during holidays.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.