Cyprus based airline Cobalt strives to provide the best possible service to its customers, but not at the expense of safety, a company representative said on Tuesday one day after the carrier announced a temporary rescheduling of its flights due to a technical problem on one of its aircraft.
The airline said a technical problem was discovered on one of its aircraft, due to depart Larnaca for Athens, and as a result it was withdrawn, “causing a minor disruption to the company’s flight schedule”.
Complaints were made on social media by affected passengers who said that their flights were rescheduled several hours later, or that they were left waiting at the Athens airport for several hours while some of them were told they would fly home the next day.
Cobalt had apologised for the inconvenience caused by the technical problem, and said it fully supported the decision of the pilot to return to base and have the aircraft thoroughly checked.
“There was an indication on the aircraft and the captain decided to have it checked. It wasn’t something serious,” Cobalt’s chief corporate officer Philokypros Roussounides told the Cyprus Mail. He added that the delay was due to the decision to change a part, which was not in stock and had to be flown in from the UK.
“Due to our commitment to safety we decided to keep the aircraft grounded,” Roussounides said. The company’s two other aircraft, he added, were operating flights to other destinations.
However, this is not the first time Cobalt has seen delays caused by technical problems, as last week there was a hold up of around an hour and a half.
“These things happen, but if there is the slightest indication that something is not right, we choose not to fly the aircraft,” Roussounides said.
He added that the company has been subject to harsh criticism “which up to a point is unfair”.
Several other companies, Roussounides said, who operate in Cyprus have had far greater delays but no one is mentioning those.
Despite criticism, bookings are doing well, he said.
“We thank the public that embraced this effort. We will do the best possible for our customers but always with the highest sense of safety,” Roussounides said.
He added that Cobalt, which flies to seven European destinations, will as of September connect Larnaca with Ukraine’s coastal city of Odessa. The airline received the go-ahead from the Department of Civil aviation last week.
Cobalt CEO Andrew Pyne said that while the airline had experienced serious operational problems during its first few days of operations due to late delivery of aircraft, its operational performance was now good.
He said the airline intended to receive more aircrafts during August, bringing the total fleet to five planes.
“Designation on the Odessa route is a very significant step forward for the airline. This will represent our first non-EU route and we are very excited about the potential for developing Ukraine/Cyprus tourist traffic,” Pyne said.
The airline, which received its commercial licence in June, a month after obtaining its air operator certificate, said that it is seeking designation from the Cyprus government “on a range of other non-EU routes including Lebanon, Egypt and Iran”.
