New Limassol port passenger terminal to open in July

A brand-new passenger terminal in Limassol port will open in July, operator DP World confirmed on Thursday.

The passenger hall was completed in September 2016, but final touches are still being applied.

“We are now entering the last phase prior to going live, in which we are robustly testing systems and operability with other partners who will be conducting operations in the terminal,” a spokesperson for DP World told the Cyprus Mail.

The new terminal has an area of 6,800 square metres and cost €13.5 million. It consists of seven units that passengers can move between through connecting areas.

The first four units are on the ground floor and house arrivals, customs, police and immigration and luggage collection for cruise ships. A restaurant on the first floor includes a ‘sky bar’ from which visitors have a view over the Mediterranean Sea, the port and the town.

Unit five 5 is the departure waiting area housing a cafeteria, a travel agent and an information office while units six and seven are departure terminals.

In the departure area there will also be a café, immigration and some shops. DP World is currently in the process of exploring alternative uses for some of the spaces during the low season in winter.

In April 2016, DP World Limassol was awarded a 25-year concession to exclusively operate the multi-purpose terminal in Limassol. P&O Maritime, a DP World subsidiary was also awarded a 15-year concession to exclusively provide the full range of marine services in Limassol port.

DP World took over general commerce and passenger traffic from the government in early February 2017. According to the spokesperson, since going live the company has serviced over 40 cruise ships as a transit and home port, and served over 37,000 passengers.

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.