Minister of Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said that the closure of Monarch Airlines is affecting 15,000 tourists who were to visit Cyprus between now and the end of this year, but expressed the belief that the majority of them will be able to arrange their trip to the island with other companies.
Around 3,000 passengers of Monarch Airlines are stranded in Cyprus at the moment. The airline has arranged for their return with other airlines on the day they were supposed to depart with Monarch.
The Minister said that the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and Hermes Airports in Cyprus are monitoring the situation since the very beginning. He said that according to first estimates, the closure of Monarch Airlines is affecting 15,000 tourists who were due to travel to Cyprus by the end of the year.
“We believe that the majority of those passengers will find a way to travel to Cyprus since the destinations covered by Monarch Airlines are served by other companies as well,” he said.
Asked if this development will have a negative impact on Cyprus` winter tourism – expected to increase this year – Lakkotrypis said that it is possible that this will affect the island, but pointed out that most of those seats will be covered by other airlines.