Swissport employees affected by Cyprus Airways closure

By George Psyllides

Ground handling services company Swissport has raised the issue of redundancies following the closure of Cyprus Airways, which provided 35 per cent of its turnover.

Citing an unnamed trade union source, the Cyprus News Agency said the company had lost a lot of business after the closure of the airline, which had also held 33.3 per cent of Swissport’s shares.

The unions have started talks with the company but they think “it is too early to discuss redundancies and layoffs.”

The problem is with Larnaca airport where Swissport employs 350 people. Paphos airport is not affected because it was not used by Cyprus Airways.

“We must wait and see what happens with air transport considering there are plans to found a new airline with the Cyprus Airways name and logo,” the union source said.
The island’s national carrier of 67 years closed down last Friday after the European Commission ordered it to return €66 million in state aid, which was ruled illegal.
Unable to do so, the company was deemed unviable and ceased all operations immediately.
Other airlines have already stepped in to fill the gap. Romania-based low cost airline Blue Air will be setting up a base on the island while Greece’s Aegean Airlines announced it was expanding its operations significantly, aiming at tripling its market share.

Swissport said it could not make up for its lost turnover at this stage since it did not handle Aegean.

“Blue Air is served by us and it remains to be seen how the situation develops. However, Blue Air’s additional flights do not make up for the turnover Cyprus Airways had at Larnaca airport,” a company source said.

The company has informed the labour relations department and it was now waiting for a meeting to be arranged, together with the unions.
Cyprus Airways employees on Friday continued their week of protesting against the airline’s closure with a demonstration outside the House.

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.