Ryanair announces additional flights from Paphos to Tel Aviv

Ryanair on Tuesday announced that it will add five additional flights every week from Paphos to Tel Aviv as part of its Summer 2021 schedule.

Following strong demand from Cypriot consumers, Ryanair will operate 17 weekly flights from Paphos to Tel Aviv commencing on the July 4, 2021. Cypriot consumers can now book a summer getaway to Tel Aviv, and for customers who book before the 31st of March, there will be an option to change flight plans without a fee.

To celebrate, Ryanair have launched a seat sale with fares available from €29.99 for travel from the 4th of July onwards (if booked before midnight on Thursday the 4th of February).

Jason McGuinness, Ryanair’s director of commercial said in a press release that ‘Ryanair is pleased to announce the extra flights and being mindful of the fact that Covid-19 restrictions change regularly, we are allowing up to 2 free flight date changes on all bookings up until the 31st of October this year’.

2020 was disastrous for airlines operating in and out of Cyprus, with an 80 per cent recorded drop in overall passenger traffic. The new flight offerings are a sign that airlines across Europe are looking for a speedy recovery off the back of widespread vaccine rollout.

Ryanair CEO Micheal O’Leary has long been critical of coronavirus restrictions, and told the Financial Times this week that while he was hopeful for a strong recovery in passenger numbers this year, it will largely be dependent on whether European governments can ‘catch up’ with the UK, which has already administered nearly 10 million doses.

Ryanair lost approximately €306 million over the Christmas quarter, while rivals Whizz Air and EasyJet also suffered heavy losses of €114.5 million and €400 million respectively.

Even so, O’Leary is optimistic, estimating that with continued vaccine rollout, Ryanair could be flying ‘between 70 and 90 per cent of normal levels’ by Autumn.