THIRTY-ONE inbound and outbound flights scheduled for Larnaca and Paphos airports were either cancelled or rescheduled yesterday, bringing the total number of affected flights between Cyprus and the rest of Europe since Thursday to 88 and affecting approximately 10,000 passengers.
Hermes Airports PR Manager Adamos Aspris said flight routes between Cyprus and Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia, Switzerland and northwestern Russia were the hardest hit, while Asia flights continued normally.
Cyprus Airways announced last night that all its European flights – except those flying to Greece – will be cancelled today. Yesterday it cancelled 16 flights – all of its flights to and from its three British destinations and Amsterdam, Milan, Moscow, Paris and Zurich.
“Everything is paralysed,” said Press Officer Kyriacos Kyriacou.
The only European flights Cyprus Airways did not cancel yesterday were those between Cyprus and Athens, Iraklion, Rhodes, Rome, Saloniki, and Sophia.
The situation has affected a plethora of official visits. President Demetris Christofias has been forced to cancel his trip to Poland to attend today’s funeral of the Polish president who died in a plane crash last week.
Archbishop Chrysostomos II was forced to cancel a trip to Istanbul in which he was to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemew after becoming stranded in Brussels while Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides and Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis have also been delayed in returning from their official visit to Spain.
Despite the flight cancellations the scene at Larnaca and Paphos airports was calm.
“A small number of passengers are coming to the airports trying to find out about their flights but the majority of have already been informed of this development by their airline,” said Aspris.
National Air Traffic Services in Britain announced yesterday that a flight ban through British airspace will remain in effect until 1 am on Sunday. “The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is moving around and changing shape,” the air traffic management service stated on its web site. “It is most unlikely that many flights will operate today and anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport.”
Officials said they cannot estimate when the Larnaca and Paphos airports will return to normal.
“We cannot say for sure when this situation will end, said Aspris. “This depends on the situation from around Europe and how it will develop. Many factors affect it such as the wind’s speed and direction and the activity of the volcano,” he said.
Analysts predict the tidal wave of cancellations will severely affect the bottom line of airlines worldwide just as the industry was beginning to experience a recovery in passenger travel. Kyriacou echoed the sentiment, saying that “every air company will be affected very hard. Today is the third day we have cancelled flights. We have so many cancellations and maybe tomorrow we will as well, so you can understand this is not in favour of air companies,” he said.
Cypriot hoteliers however are benefitting from the fallout as the island serves as a diversion point for flights to northern Europe from Asia.
The Golden Bay Beach Hotel in Larnaca went from 50 percent to full capacity overnight Thursday when a large group of Swedish tourists returning to Stockholm from Thailand checked into the hotel after their flight was diverted to Larnaca International, said Golden Bay Manager Kyriacos Shiakallis, and the neighbouring Sandy Beach and Lordos Beach hotels experienced a similar influx of stranded guests. “It has been very good advertising for us,” he said.
The group checked out of the hotel yesterday afternoon for a flight to Athens and will return to Stockholm by bus. Shiakallis said other guests bound for northern Europe had extended their stay at Golden Bay through the weekend while they await Monday’s developments.
According to Shiakallis, the unexpected change in plans has not angered tourists. “Everyone leaving the hotel is now crying because they do not want to go,” he said. “They made a party before they left, they were so happy.”
But Shiakallis does not believe the influx of guests will continue beyond the weekend. “Those we expected to come, came, and we do not expect anymore big changes,” he said.
