CYPRUS tourism could benefit from an EU ban on noisy Russian aircraft, Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis said yesterday.
Following his trip to Moscow this week to assess tourism prospects from the Russian market — Cyprus’ third largest after the UK and Germany — Rolandis told the Sunday Mail that arrivals from Russia would be up between 10 and 15 per cent this year.
“Another thing we may be helped by is the noisy planes, which cause noise pollution and will not be accepted in European countries,” Rolandis said.
He said the EU candidate countries, mostly Eastern European states with still-strong ties to Russia, were pushing the EU for an extension to accept these aircraft.
“Some of the other candidate countries are trying to keep taking these planes until the end of 2004, and probably we shall try to do the same,” Rolandis said. He said that Russia was currently negotiating with the EU to allow charter flights to some European destinations, if they are operating to airports at a reasonable distance from residential areas.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victor Khristenko was in Brussels last week for intensive talks with the EU. He said an understanding had been reached with Greece, the Scandinavian countries, Holland, and Belgium. Consultations with Germany and France have almost been completed, but he said the greatest problems concern Italy and Spain. Khristenko said he had received firm assurances from EU authorities that the problem would be resolved by the end of 2002.
To overcome the ban Rolandis said his ministry would be looking at both of the island’s airports to see if they can meet the criteria for a transitional period.
“Paphos airport is away from residential areas and the same might apply to Larnaca because the landings and take-offs are in areas that are not really residential,” he said. He added that several Russian tour operators had asked about this in Moscow. “We will look into the matter this week, and if other candidate countries manage to secure a transition period until the end of 2004 we shall try to do the same,” he said.
Rolandis also said the indications for 2002 tourism from the UK were improving. “It may be better than we anticipated, and we have quite a number of late bookings,” he said. “If we manage to have the same figures this year from the UK then we will have the same figures all over.”
The Hoteliers’ Association also said yesterday that arrivals from the UK for the western Easter this weekend were healthy. “Cyprus is in very much demand among British Easter holiday-makers, and as expected during this period we have received an influx of people choosing Cyprus,” said Zacharias Ioannides, the association’s director-general.
“The feeling is that hotels are fully booked and we are very glad that the pattern which prevails every Easter continues this year as well.”
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.
