Troubled CY gets boost from chartered flights

 

CYPRUS Airways (CY), the loss-making flag carrier which has said it needs drastic measures to safeguard its viability, said chartered flights helped lift passenger numbers from January to October.

“Cyprus Airways transported some 37,000 more passengers compared to the corresponding period last year … mainly because of the operation of charter flights, which comprise one of the measures which the company has taken to confront the after-effects from limited demand,” the airline said in a statement yesterday.

Earlier this month the company said that despite measures to boost competitiveness, it still needed urgent action to protect its future. Finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis said then that the airline was set for a €30 million loss this year and its viability was a cause for concern.

CY said yesterday it continued to feel the negative effects from fare yields and fuel prices during the 10-month period.

The traditionally scheduled flight carrier said its passenger load factor for the period was up 71.9 per cent for the first ten months, compared to 71.4 per cent in 2009, while its seat load factor increased by 27,000 seats.

In August, the airline posted a first-half loss of €25.1 million, hit by disruption from the volcanic ash cloud and Greece’s financial crisis.

CY has suffered from cheaper private operators nipping at its heels, particularly low-cost operators like easyJet and Monarch on previously lucrative British routes.

The airline said that “with immediate effect” it would increase the number of flights to and from Brussels from two to five flights a week, and its Moscow route to twice weekly, in a bid to compete with the competition.

Meanwhile, it said the sale of one of its Airbus A320 aircraft has earned it USD $1.5 million (€1.1 million) towards its H2 earnings.

The transfer of its ticketing and reservations arm, Zenon N.D.C to SABRE, would also bring Cyprus Airways a further €5.5 million, it said.

 

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.