Larnaca will in August and September become part of the Cyprus-Greece ferry service as the city’s port will share the timetable with Limassol.

Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras explained that the city is ideally located to facilitate easy connections within the island, while its facilities are also top notch.

“The sea link between Cyprus and Greece facilitated through the port in our city has been a long-standing request, which we see as good for both Larnaca and also the island as a whole,” he explained.

He added that the city has easy access to all the other major hubs on the island, while Larnaca airport means that many tourists will have access to the port and therefore the sea link with Greece.

The mayor explained that the companies operating the port and running the ferry service came to an agreement that Larnaca will host the ferry in August and September, while Limassol will hold the contract in June and July.

As for how much the ferry tickets will cost, the mayor said that they will be in line with Limassol’s prices.

Close to 7,500 passengers travelled the Greece-Cyprus ferry link last summer – the first service in about 20 years.

The last ferry voyage between Greece and Cyprus took place on October 8, 2001, with the ship Salamis Star.

The Daleela – last year’s ferry – made a total of 22 voyages in the past season, four in June, eight in July, seven in August and three in September.

The cheapest return tickets for adults, with a simple seating arrangement, were set at €76 while a second-class cabin return ticket was €80. The respective one-way tickets were €38 and €40.

The number of complaints filed amounted to 37, or a mere 0.5 per cent of the users.

It was explained that most of those are not centred on the boat itself but more so on boarding process and waiting area at the port. Since then, officials vowed that improvements will be made wherever necessary.