Cyprus Airways passengers more than quadruple in May

Cyprus Airways carried more than four times the number of passengers in May than the same month last year, it announced on Tuesday.

A total of 66,998 passengers flew with Cyprus Airways in May, of which 48,929 were scheduled and the remaining on charter flights operated by the airline.

The numbers hugely surpassed last year’s May figures, when, according to Cyprus Airways, only 14,735 passengers were carried.

Throughout May, the flag carrier operated 370 scheduled flights, compared to 214 flights during the same month last year.

In addition, compared to May 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cyprus Airways carried 55 per cent more passengers on its scheduled services and operated 38 per cent more flights.

“In a few days’ time we will have all our 18 destinations for summer 2023 operational,” Cyprus Airways CEO Paul Sies said.

“Over the last few weeks, we have expanded our connectivity with multiple weekly flights to the European hubs of Zurich, Prague, Basel and Milan and to the international gateways of Dubai and Cairo.

“Our model of adding routes, frequencies and improving connectivity is bearing fruit as we are now the third largest carrier in Cyprus for the past ten months,” he added.

Sies said that despite the competition on the island, which he referred as “aggressive and, at times, pointless”, the airline is in a strong position to achieve further passenger growth and improve Cyprus’ international connectivity.

“We are looking forward to the coming summer months during which we will welcome new additions to our fleet that will drive forward our environmental sustainability agenda with greener aircraft models and a totally new passenger experience,” Sies said.

“The new aircraft models will deliver a 40 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions and a totally new customer comfort standard.”