Stranded in Crete

ONE hundred and eighty Cypriots, who are refusing to return home on a Helios flight, are stranded in Chania, Crete.

The flight, which was running according to Helios’s schedule, was due to take place yesterday. However, concerned about their safety, the passengers were refusing to board the aircraft that originally brought them to the island, demanding that they be allowed to fly with another airline.

Helios, who are not allowing passengers to travel with a charter flight when one of their own aircraft is available, refused this request. Demands for refunds were also refused by the company, who insist that as long as their aircraft are flying as normal, they are not obliged to return airfares to passengers.

When asked whether the Helios flight would be taking off as normal, Nikos Anastassiades, spokesman for the company at Larnaca airport, replied in the affirmative.
“The flight will be taking place. It is due to leave at 8pm, although we have warned passengers that there may be some delays.”

Anastassiades also insisted that passengers were planning to board the flight.
“Actually, quite a lot of people have checked in. We are closely attending to those passengers. I just think it is a shame they are being harassed so much by the media, particularly the Greek media,” Anastassiades added.

Travel agencies, which have come under considerable strain since the disaster last Sunday, are unable to fund charter flights but are attempting to find a solution to the problem. Akis Kelepeshis, President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents, yesterday said that the situation was posing serious problem to travel agencies.

“We are trying to schedule another flight with another airline. However, those passengers who do wish to travel with an alternative airline will have to pay for their fares all over again,” he said.

Disgruntled Cypriot passengers now have no option but to wait until an alternative flight can be found, or to travel to Athens by boat and get a flight with another company from there.

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.