Over nine million passengers travelled in and out of Cyprus in 2022

A total of 9.2 million passengers travelled in and out of Cyprus’ airports in 2022, which corresponded to 82 per cent of passenger traffic in 2019, Senior Director of Aviation Development, Marketing & Communication of Hermes Airports Maria Kouroupi, said on Thursday.

“The year 2022 ended with 9.2 million arriving and departing passengers, a figure that corresponds to approximately 82 per cent of 2019 passenger traffic,” she told CNA.

She added that despite the challenges for the airports, such as the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the suspension of flights from the two countries, as well as the lack of staff observed in the airlines and ground handling companies, they managed to achieve substantial recovery of passenger traffic and connectivity of Cyprus and to lay the foundations for a stable upward track.

“In 2022 we had flights from 50 airlines in 38 countries and 140 routes,” said Kouroupi. The main flight destinations were the United Kingdom, Greece, Israel, Germany, Poland, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Hungary and Romania.

When asked what was expected for the new year in terms of air traffic, Kouroupi said if there were no new setbacks with the pandemic, they were optimistic. She added that the airlines had drawn up an ambitious programme with many new destinations, but also with strengthening of the existing routes.