CY lifts Apex restrictions after quake

CYPRUS Airways (CY) yesterday announced that passengers who wished to change the dates of their Apex flights to Athens because of Tuesday’s earthquake could do so up until September 13.

CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said the company had temporarily lifted restrictions on Apex tickets — which normally cannot be changed or refunded — because of the quake.

The earthquake came less than a week after CY slashed fares to Athens to an all-time low. Flights had been fully booked until today. The cheapest tickets are day and night Apex fares.

But Angelis said yesterday there had been no cancellations because of the quake, although there had been some enquiries about changing tickets.

“We decided to make this offer so that people would not be deprived of the right if they want to change their date of travelling,” Angelis said.

“The decision was based on humanitarian grounds. We don’t want to appear inflexible.”

Angelis said the reduced fares were still attracting many Cypriot travellers and that the load factor was high until the end of the month, mostly on the night flights. “But we still have some free sears,” he said.

“I would say the earthquake has had no visible impact on flights.”

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.