Eurocypria pilots say they will picket CY headquarters

EUROCYPRIA pilots announced yesterday they would picket Cyprus Airways (CY) next Tuesday in a row over promotions.

In a brief statement, the Eurocypria pilots said they would protest outside CY’s head office in Nicosia between 9am and noon.

They said the picket was a first gesture to pressure the CY Board of Directors into giving the green light for the long-overdue filling of a captain vacancy in the charter firm.

Eurocypria’s pilots say they do not wish to resort to strike action, but have not ruled it out if the company does not respond positively in the next 15 days.

Their union has a clear agreement with the Board that captain vacancies in the charter firm should be filled by their own co-pilots and not from CY ranks.

There are 34 pilots in Eurocypria, ten of whom are members of CY pilots union Pasipy, which lays claims to the Eurocypria promotions.

The Eurocypria pilots believe CY is leaving the captain position unfilled so as to avoid a possible high-season strike by the powerful Pasipy.

CY has asked for a further delay in implementing the deal, which Eurocypria staff are not willing to give.

Asked to comment yesterday, a CY spokesman only said: “We will be taking some decisions.”

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.