Malev’s demise a blow to passenger numbers

 

LARNACA airport is feeling the financial strain after Hungarian airline Malev stopped its weekly routes to and from Cyprus after it went belly-up earlier in the week.

According to Hermes Airports’ spokesman Adamos Aspris yesterday, the airline used to carry out three weekly flights to and from Budapest over the winter, while in the summer, there used to be up to eight flights a week.

“Certainly, the cancellation of operations by an airline that flies to and from Cyprus is a blow, which is accompanied by financial losses on various levels,” said Aspris. “And the continuation of the economic crisis is evidently creating unfavourable prospects for other airlines too, which are facing financial difficulties.”

Hungary’s 66-year-old national flag carrier, which was forced to cease flying after the Hungarian government was forced by the EU to withdraw financing, transported around 78,000 passengers to and from the island in 2011.

A Malev flight was expected to arrive on Friday night – but didn’t – and one passenger turned up at the airport yesterday expecting to fly out to Hungary, without being aware the airline had gone bust, according to the Larnaca News Agency.

The head of the travel agents’ association, Victor Mantovanni, the Hungarian government has promised to foot the bill for those who prepaid any tickets.

“Therefore, people who are abroad can seek the services of other airlines and keep the receipts, so they can be refunded by the government in Budapest,” said Mandovanni. 

He added that Czech national airline CSA is also facing viability problems, resulting in a reduction of its routes to Cyprus. 

 

 

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.