A EUROCYPRIA-leased aircraft flying from Crete to the United Kingdom last week did not have the go-ahead from Civil Aviation, the department revealed yesterday.
The news came as the airline, formerly a charter subsidiary of Cyprus Airways (CY), is facing an investigation to determine how it left itself short-staffed coming up to the summer period.
The airline’s board was due to be handed the probe late yesterday or today.
Dozens of Eurocypria flights have been carried out by a leased airline – identified only as an American concern – in recent weeks.
The arrangement, which is costing the Cypriot carrier thousands of pounds, was made after one of Eurocypria’s jets was grounded because the airline does not have enough co-pilots to carry out the number of flights scheduled with six aircraft.
Meanwhile, CY has had one of its A320s grounded due to technical problems, leading critics to point to bad planning at the island’s two airlines.
For example, most of the pilots with the now-defunct Ajet were not picked up and have since found jobs with foreign companies.
Lazaros Savvides, the chairman of Eurocypria, said yesterday the board would study the report and act quickly on it.
“I promise you that the board… shall engage in due self-criticism,” Savvides told state radio.
He confirmed that Civil Aviation had made “recommendations” to Eurocypria regarding the capacity of flight crews and other regulations.
But Civil Aviation is also eyeballing Eurocypria’s leased aircraft, which last Wednesday is said to have flown from the island of Crete to a destination in Britain without permission.
But department director Leonidas Leonidou was coy about the reason the plane apparently did not satisfy all civil aviation requirements.
He did say, however, that this was not a safety issue, and quickly moved to play down media comparisons to deficiencies with Helios Airways.
“Perhaps the irregularity may have been inadvertent, or it might have been a lapse,” he offered.
Nevertheless, Civil Aviation had decided to give the leased jet a 12-day extension to fly.
Leonidou was also reluctant to comment on the general probe into Eurocypria.
“These are delicate matters, which relate to corporate culture, you understand,” he said.
