CY expects losses from soaring fuel bill

NATIONAL carrier Cyprus Airways (CY) expects to record losses for 2008, its chairman Kikis Lazaridis said yesterday.

While initial estimates had suggested that CY would make profits of €8-10 million for this year, an increase in costs to the tune of €45 million due to rising international fuel prices will mean that despite other measures currently being undertaken by the air carrier to cushion the impact, the national air carrier is expected to record a loss in 2008.

This announcement is set to renew doubts over the financial viability of the airline, after appearing to be back on track last year by scraping €1.2 million in profits after tax after four difficult years that resulted in tens of millions of euros in losses.

According to Lazaridis, however, Cyprus Airways still had a future, and the effect on the company would not be major.

Speaking after a meeting with Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis, Lazarides confirmed that CY would be going ahead with the modernisation of their fleet by replacing three Airbus A320 aircraft with newer airplanes.

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.