Low cost airline Ryanair will launch a new route from Larnaca to Brussels Zaventem airport, starting on January 18, with two weekly flights to the Belgian capital every Monday and Friday.
Announcing the new route, in Nicosia, David O`Brien, the company`s Chief Commercial Officer, said that the route will operate without state subsidy, saving Cypriot taxpayers 3 mln euros.
He said moreover that the Cypriot government has dismissed a deal to bring over 2.5 mln extra passengers in the course of the next five years and spoke about high airport taxes.
The airline is also trimming down its operations in Pafos, with O`Brien estimating a 20% reduction by next summer. At the same time, other destinations in the Mediterranean are growing, such as Malta, Greece and Spain.
He explained that Cyprus lies in a “challenging geographic location” and airline companies must have a “compelling reason” to fly an additional one hour to Cyprus, when they can offer similar to the “untrained eye” destinations, such as Greece. Unfortunately, he went on, the private monopoly that operates Cyprus` airports has set high airport taxes, which are double that of Greece.
Concerning a company proposal to increase passengers by 900,000 this year and an additional 400,000 every year for the next three years, O`Brien said that the Cypriot government has dismissed it. “We made an offer, they turned it down, we are not inclined to make another offer. It`s still there, on a shelf somewhere” he noted.
Commenting on a failed deal with the government to buy the now defunct Cyprus Airways, O`Brien said it was a pity the country`s Finance Minister Harris Georgiades did not consider Ryanair to be a real investor and noted that the whole affair was “a short-lived political event that`s over”.
Adamos Aspris, the Spokesman for Cyprus` airports, expressed after the press conference his surprise over O`Brien`s comments, noting that Ryanair is one of the airlines which benefit the most from the incentives, Cyprus airports and the state are offering. This, he noted, results in Ryanair paying lower airport taxes.
He added that over 70 airlines fly to and from Cyprus, with a significant number of them benefiting from various schemes that aim to bring more tourists to visit the island.
