THE CABINET yesterday approved a payment of €5.3 million in compensation to Cyprus Airways for losses incurred due to the Turkish ban on Cypriot aircraft over their air space.
The airline has to pay extra fuel costs to circumvent Turkish air space.
“The Cabinet today approved the payment of €5.34 million as compensation for the year 2011 to Cyprus Airways which due to intense competition is constantly at a disadvantage compared to other airlines because of the ban on overflights in Turkish airspace, which raises the cost of flights because of the longer routes,” said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou.
He said the methodology used for the calculation of damages was the same as that used when compensating Cyprus Airways for the period 2004-2010. The calculation was in conjunction with Eurocontrol. For that period, Cyprus Airways was compensated to the tune of €20 million. Stefanou said the Finance Minister would submit a Bill in the House of Representatives for approval of the new amount.
Cyprus Mail