OUR VIEW: Flight to fare well

THE ANNOUNCEMENT that Aegean Airlines would launch a Larnaca-Heathrow daily flight later this month is good news for most people. It brings to an end the monopolising of the route by Cyprus Airways and British Airways which were able to charge relatively high air fares. With a third airline now competing for passengers, air-fares are set to come down.

It is unlikely Cyprus Airways would have seen the development very positively, as Larnaca-Heathrow was one of its few profitable routes. Would it remain profitable now that a third airline, with significantly lower operating costs and the ability to charge lower fares, has entered the fray? We doubt it, but one thing is certain – the consumer will benefit, something that is sure to please the Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides.

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.