Christodoulides attends Cyprus Airways’ new plane unveiling

Cyprus Airways, the island’s flag-carrier airline, unveiled its two new Airbus A220 aircraft at a ceremony at Larnaca airport on Friday.

The A220 is the smallest aircraft in Airbus’s fleet, with Cyprus Airways’ new planes having 134 seats each. 12 seats on each plane are designated for business class, while all the seats and baggage compartments on board are larger than that on Cyprus Airways’s Airbus A320 models.

In addition, the A220 models are more energy efficient than Cyprus Airways’ other aircraft, burning less fuel and emitting less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Christodoulides was given a tour of one of the aircraft and said, “you realise when we talk about an island, the issue of connectivity is extremely important for tourism, for the economy in more general terms, and for all aspects that concern an island such as our country”.

He said he was glad to be joined at the ceremony by representatives of Airbus, and that he was “here to give a vote of confidence on behalf of the government”.

“We have agreed to meet to see in particular some destinations where the Republic of Cyprus as a country does not have connectivity to see how we can synchronise our actions so that any gaps are covered”, he said.

Speaking of his personal aviation habits, he said he will “of course” fly on the new aircraft.

He added “a few days ago I went on a commercial flight to Brussels, and do you understand that a city with which Cyprus does not have commercial flights is one where there is great need not only for state officials and public officials, but for the public too”.

He pointed out that Cyprus is set to host the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026 and said, “Brussels is a city that we have to see how we will deal with the problem of a lack of direct flights”.

After Chrisdodoulides’s speech, the Bishop of Neapoleos Porfyrios blessed the planes.

Cyprus Airways’ A220’s first flight will take off from Larnaca for Dubai on August 2.