Two municipalities in the Larnaca district on Tuesday demanded payouts for their position near Larnaca airport, due to the “impact” the airport has on the two areas.

The municipalities, the Larnaca municipality and the Dromolaxia and Meneou municipality, asked for the money to be paid either as a fixed annual amount, or as a fee per passenger, in statements following a meeting between the two municipalities’ mayors.

After that meeting Dromolaxia and Meneou mayor Kypros Andronikou said the municipalities “demand and ask that the state understand all the impacts which have been put on the two municipalities, and we are requesting a fixed annual compensation for the impacts that the airport’s operation has”.

“It is widely known that the state collects some millions from the airport’s strategic investor, which are then distributed throughout Cyprus. How is it possible that part of these revenues is not used for the Larnaca municipality and the Dromolaxia and Meneou municipality, which are subjected to this burden?” he asked.

He added that both municipalities “do not collect a single cent” from the airport, and that this constitutes “an injustice which must be remedied today”.

Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras said the municipalities’ request “goes back a long way”.

“We are perhaps the only municipalities which, while operating an international airport, also operates with all that entails in terms of environmental issues, building issues and coastal development issues,” he said.

He added that both municipalities have penned a letter to Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades, requesting a meeting with him.

Asked whether the municipalities’ springing into action on the matter has anything to do with the planned expansion of Larnaca airport, he said this is “precisely” the case.

“There is a new agreement to expand Larnaca airport and thoughts about new airport management agreements, so we believe that it is time to assert this request, which cannot be postponed any longer,” he said.

He added that the “most correct” way of paying the municipalities would be per passenger head, given that millions of air passengers passed through Cyprus last year.

“The most correct thing to do is to do it by passenger head. This means you can also measure the corresponding impact on the town. The more planes, the greater the burden and traffic, and there will be other issues such as cleanliness, with which our municipalities will have to deal,” he said.

Asked whether the matter impacts the airport’s operating company Hermes airports, he said, “this is purely a matter for the state”.

“A private company will look after its interests and we will be negotiating and resolving this matter with the state,” he said.

The demand comes after both the Republic of Cyprus’ airports recorded new record high numbers of passengers last year, with more than 12 million people having taken off or landed at Larnaca and Paphos last year.