Hermes seeks to ‘combat seasonality’ in tourism, heralds spike in island’s connectivity

Thirteen million passengers are expected to pass through Larnaca and Paphos airports this year, Maria Kouroupi, Hermes Airports Director of Aviation Development, Marketing and Communications said on Wednesday, with an uptick from last year expected during the summer.

Extra routes and new budget airlines offering flights to and from Cyprus mean the year “started very well,” Kouroupi said.

The first three months of winter, already saw an increase of around 7 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year, she said.

She added that the company’s goal is to extend the winter tourist season and “combat seasonality” in Cyprus’ tourism sector.

The summer season normally starts at the end of March but it seems passenger traffic will be increased this year, she said, from new routes and extra flights, as well as increased flight frequencies of existing routes throughout the week.

The director listed the providers set to offer these boosted services, including Romanian carrier Animawings, Ukrainian SkyUp with a new service to Chișinău, Air Haifa, which has started flights to Larnaca and Paphos, and Saudia which is starting routes from Riyadh.

New routes to Larnaca will also begin operating from France by Transavia, from Marseille and Lyon, while Aegean is starting flights from Larnaca to Rome.

EasyJet has started flights to and from Amsterdam, to strengthen Transavia’s existing connection, while Cyprus Airways offers a seasonal route to Venice.

Kouroupi also said that an increase in existing routes to and from the UK is planned for this year, via Manchester, Luton, and Gatwick airports.

The Condor company, which had stopped its flights from Germany, is returning with two routes from Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, “which is considered a particularly encouraging development for this particular market.”

Ryanair is also adding flights from Düsseldorf’s second airport, Wieze, to Paphos, and flights to Poland, such as Katowice.

“We view all these developments with great optimism and continue our efforts to improve the connectivity of our country,” Kouroupi said.

Efforts to increase tourist numbers even further had gotten underway at the Berlin Tourism Fair which Hermers Airports attended alongside the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, she said.

The company will also participate in leading aviation trade event ‘Routes Europe 2025’ in Spain, on April 8-10, to seek more collaborations.