‘Eurocypria is not in danger’

EUROCYPRIA Chairman Lazaros Savvides yesterday rubbished reports that the airline was in danger of having its fleet grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority.

According to reports on Sunday by private television channel Mega, the Civil Aviation Department was considering whether to invoke Eurocypria’s licence after it was claimed that the airline was not in compliance with government regulations over the employment of a high ranking official.

The report went on to say that the Civil Aviation Department had set the government-owned airline a deadline until Tuesday to dismiss the official in question in order meet the necessary requirements.

Savvides yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that there was absolutely no truth in such reports.

“This is entirely a fabrication. First of all, such a decision would not fall into the agenda of the Civil Aviation Authority and secondly we have never been asked by anyone to dismiss an employee,” he said.

“This is just coffeeshop talk.”

The troubled airline has come under fire following an inspection which revealed safety concerns earlier this year.

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.