Passenger traffic in May ‘encouraging’

The latest results for passenger traffic for May were ‘satisfactory and encouraging’, Hermes Airports  said on Friday.

Based on official figures from Hermes Airports from May 1 to May 31, traffic had increased by 5.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

“This improvement in traffic is due mainly to the Easter Holidays, the increase in flight capacity to and from Russia and the United Kingdom, as well as a certain low cost airline resuming its summer routes to and from Paphos” a statement said.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer of Hermes Airports, Craig Richmond said that “even if the results so far create a feeling of relief, we have no illusions about the difficulties we have to face”.

“We know very well that this year’s projections suffered a serious blow in March due to the painful economic developments; however, we believe that with everyone’s collaboration we could even turn things around completely,” he added.

Hermes has already announced new incentive schemes for airlines and duly informed both the directly interested parties, i.e. the airlines, as well as the stakeholders in the Cyprus tourist industry.

The three new schemes offered by Hermes provide incentives to the airlines as follows: discounts on landing fees for additional flights, discounts based on the load factor for selected routes at Larnaca airport, and marketing support.

Hermes continues to offer the three previous incentive schemes, which include support on new routes, support on winter incremental passengers, and long term volume-related agreements.

“Hermes Airports is fully aware of the extremely difficult circumstances Cyprus is currently going through. As the operator of the country’s international Airports, Hermes will do whatever it takes and, always in co-operation with all stakeholders in the tourism industry, will try its very best to increase the tourist flow to our country and support the economy of Cyprus” the statement said.