CTO in talks with easyJet and Ryanair
THE CYPRUS Tourism Organisation (CTO) has been given the green light from the EU to offer support to new airlines in order to entice them to fly to the island.
The move, which has been in the pipeline since last year, is part of a strategic plan to bring in more visitors to boost the flagging tourism industry.
“It’s a new scheme and it’s a transparent one, which is applicable to all European airlines, not just low-cost carriers,” said CTO Director General Phoebe Katsouri.
She said it was designed to connect Cyprus with new European destinations. “It’s a start-up scheme for new routes,” Katsouri added.
She said the CTO had been working for months and had tested the waters within the EU, which bans direct subsidies in the airline industry.
“We formulated a scheme which complies with EU directives and regulations,” Katsouri said. “And now we have the green light.”
The CTO Director General shied away from saying Cyprus would be giving money to airlines to fly to the island. “They will receive market support from us,” Katsouri said.
Under EU rules, the support can be given for between three and five years and the airlines which jump on board must commit to year-round connections to Cyprus.
“It’s a joint effort. They will be risking and investing by committing airline capacity at considerable cost to them,” Katsouri said.
“The CTO will be contributing its marketing efforts to support them. It is economic support, but it translates into market activities” she added.
The scheme came about after the CTO had a study carried out that determined the biggest obstacle facing Cyprus tourism was accessibility by air, an industry itself which has been changing dramatically in recent years.
Katsouri said the new air transport environment became detrimental for Cyprus, severing the island from more and more airports and resulting in ever-increasing air fares.
“This was the gist of the review in 2007 so we needed to do something to cultivate new markets, but we could only do this within the proper channels,” Katsouri said.
Steps for implementation of the scheme are already under way.
“We are already in contact with several airlines to make proposals,” Katsouri said, confirming that easyJet and Ryanair were two of the airlines concerned.
However, the scheme is not likely to be ready in time to benefit this year’s summer season, as airlines engage in long-term planning. “The earliest would be winter 08/09 and even that is doubtful,” Katsouri said. “But this is a chance, and we are doing our utmost not to waste any time. From 2009, there will be concrete results.”
Asked whether Ryanair could be tempted, given their much-publicised objection to airport charges in Cyprus, Katsouri said there was little likelihood that airport charges would be reduced.
“This [the new scheme] is the only way to co-operate with the CTO,” she said.
