MEP Marios Matsakis yesterday blasted the private company in charge of security at Larnaca Airport for employing what he called untrained cheap labour, who were unable to communicate and were rude to the public.
Matsakis called the Civil Aviation Authority to take action on the matter which he said was giving Cyprus a bad image and raises questions on the quality of airport security.
“I travel frequently through Larnaca Airport and I am saddened to say that the staff of Group 4 very often does not behave in a correct manner, creating a bad impression to travelers. They are often rude and speak in an abrupt manner, whereas care and politeness is required in such situations,” Matsakis said.
According to Matsakis one of the main reasons for this phenomenon was the inadequate training provided to airport security staff.
“It is definitely a matter of training. They chose Group 4 which is the cheapest company because they employ cheap and unskilled labour of questionable background. These people cannot communicate effectively neither in Greek nor English,” he said.
Matsakis said it was only common sense that such employees should show “politeness, decency and professionalism”and should “definitely be able to speak fluent Greek”
as well as very good English, or any other of the well-known European languages such as French, he said.
The fact that the security staff was unskilled, he said, not only undermined Cyprus’ image to tourists, but also raised questions about the security provisions in Cypriot airports.
“As a country and a tourist destination we are losing out as a result of this situation. Cyprus is to a large degree dependent on tourism and the airport is a window to our country,” said Matsakis.
“ It is unacceptable that in order to gain easy profit they are using cheap labour of low quality at a vital section such as passenger security at Larnaca International and thus cause irrecoverable damage to our country. This situation can simply not continue.”
To alert the authorities Matsakis sent a letter to the Director of Civil Aviation Leonidas Leonidou, explaining the situation and his personal experiences. The letter was also forwarded to the Ministry of Communications and Works, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Justice, the President of the CTO, the Chief of Police and airport operator Hermes.
Hermes spokesman Adamos Aspris said he had not seen the full comments made by Matsakis to judge if they were completely accurate.
“We’re not going to pretend there are no complaints but there are complaints in all airports around the world,” he said. “This is a subjective matter. Of course our duty and aim is to always improve and become better.”
