AN AVERAGE of 24 passengers passed through Larnaca airport every minute yesterday, in what was believed to be one of the busiest days of the year.
According to figures from airport operator Hermes, there were a total 217 flights yesterday, 109 arrivals and 108 departures from Larnaca, transporting some 35,000 people to and from the island. Yesterday’s figure is double the normal capacity, which has been calculated at an average daily intake of just over 16,000.
Cyprus’ largest terminal has been subject to increased strain over the last few months which are traditionally the busiest for tourism on the island, however problems have been exacerbated by the lack of efficient passenger services since the transfer of ground-handling operations from Hermes to Swissport and LGS.
The alleged failures subsequently led to the government to fine both companies more than €110,000 between them. The companies have since claimed that they have improved their services after signing action plans that oversaw the hiring of more than 120 new employees and appointing a number of expert personnel to train their staff.
Infrastructure at both airports in Cyprus is below standard and it questions have arisen as to how the terminals, especially that of Larnaca, would cope with such increased demand.
Reports from Hermes said that they were monitoring the situation in collaboration with all the other relevant departments and services of the airport and hoped that the increased number of people using the airport would not cause too many difficulties.
On behalf of LGS, spokesman for the Louis Group Michalis Maratheftis, who last week described Larnaca and Paphos airports as “the most dysfunctional in Europe”, told the Cyprus Mail that ground handling services were fully utilising the increased workforce they had at their disposal.
“This is undoubtedly the busiest times of all for airports. We are doing our utmost to ensure that everything goes smoothly, we are doubling our efforts in acknowledgement that it is the epicentre of the high season,” he said.
According to reports, on Monday, which was another busy day, flights were being delayed for short periods of time due to the increased traffic. It is believed that a number of aircrafts landing at Larnaca had to wait in line for a berth, causing minor passengers delays.
There have also been close to 1,000 flights a day transiting the Cyprus Flight Information Region (FIR – the airspace which has been allocated to the Cypriot government for the purpose of providing air traffic control service to aircraft) that comes under the Nicosia Area Control Centre (ACC).
The traffic at Larnaca airport today is expected to be substantially less than it was yesterday, with 7,000 people arriving in Larnaca and 9,000 departing on a total of 133 flights.
On Friday however as the holiday weekend officially begins, passengers passing through Larnaca airport is expected to be more than 25,000 on 179 flights.
