Cyprus needs a cheap pound and cheap fares

Sir,

In last Sunday’s edition of your paper I thought that there were two very important letters. One from Alec Georgiou of London and Sean Gosling of Lymm.

I do believe that they are both correct in their views and I feel sure that Cyprus during the next two years will be rewarded for their slowness.

The Cyprus pound has been too firm for too long and when it joins the euro there may well be some regrets. From a tourist point of view it is the wrong way round, there should be £1.16 sterling to the Cyprus pound, not the other way round. This would encourage more middle class players from the UK.

Let’s look at airfares. I will be in Limassol in mid June on business. What would my ticket cost? Out on the 9th and return on 14th, Monarch £184. Cyprus Airways London £241. Manchester £241 and BA £234.

On the same time, Dublin to Tenerife £127 with Ryanair. London /Athens with EasyJet £173. How can Ryanair travel to Tenerife, which is around the same distance as Cyprus, for over £100 less?

Cyprus needs scheduled airlines but open skies are required to get people either to their hotels or property that they have purchased. Good competition will result in good business.

Peter F Knowles, Limassol
 
 

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.