There are no problems in serving the passengers, who were due to fly with Cyprus Airways which ceased operations on Friday, according to the Executive Chairman of Top Kinisis Travel Akis Kelepeshis, the agent which is dealing with CY passengers.
“Between 18.00 on Friday evening and 12.30 Saturday noon, the travel agency received about 6,700 calls from passengers,” he told CNA today, adding that “we are doing fine, people are being served and fly to their destination, on other airlines.”
The government announced on Friday evening that Cyprus Airways ceased operations, following a decision by the European Commission that Cyprus Airways would have to pay back over €100 million in state aid it had received in previous years, which breached EU rules.
Kelepeshis told CNA that today`s chartered flights to Moscow and London departed on time.
Passengers flying to Greece have been put on Aegean Airlines flights and others traveling to Paris, get there through Athens, Frankfurt or Vienna, he explained.
He appealed to people to be patient and the influx of telephone calls on 35 telephone exchanges is enormous.
Cyprus Airways operated its last flight last night, carrying passengers from Athens to Larnaca. Flight CY 337 touched down at 21.15 on Friday, December 9, and marked the end of an era.
The captain of the aircraft Charalambos Panayiotou expressed his sadness at this development, adding that he considers himself privileged to have been able to fly the airline`s fleet.
“On departure from Athens we knew this would be our last flight with Cyprus Airways. All the crew did their job impeccably and with professionalism, as they have always done. I am really sorry for this,” he said on arrival at Larnaca.
Following the announcement Cyprus Airways employees gathered outside the airline headquarters in Nicosia to air their disappointment and anger at the recent developments.
Trade Union representatives indicated, in statements to CNA, that past decisions by all governments and Board decisions have led the airline to closure. They also said the state has a duty towards the 500 employees of the airline to meet its obligations in terms of benefits or other salary or pension related matters.
Hermes Airport which manages the island`s two international airports, in a statement issued on Friday night, said “this was a sad development.”
The European Commission announced on Friday that Cyprus Airways would have to pay back over €100 million in state aid it had received in previous years as this gave the company an undue advantage over its competitors in breach of EU rules.
Cyprus Airways, the Commission said in a press release, “needs to pay back all incompatible aid received”.
In particular, the Commission found that Cyprus Airways “had no realistic perspective of becoming viable without continued state subsidies.”
“Cyprus Airways has received large quantities of public money since 2007 but was unable to restructure and become viable without continued state support” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
Therefore, she added, “injecting additional public money would only have prolonged the struggle without achieving a turn-around.”.
Companies, she pointed out, “need to be profitable based on own merits and their ability to compete and cannot and should not rely on taxpayer money to stay in the market artificially.”