Hermes Airports' Maria Kouroupi: "We remain firmly committed to further enhancing Cyprus' connectivity" (video)

"It is very important to maintain the good prospects for stable growth and to invest in year-round connectivity, which will have multiple benefits for our country," Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development, Marketing and Communication, Hermes Airports has stated.

In an interview included in the most recent edition of Hermes Airports' Flight Mode online newsletter, Kouroupi noted that 2024 had been a landmark year in terms of passenger traffic.

"For the new year, we remain firmly committed to our strategic goal of further enhancing Cyprus' connectivity," she added.

Among other things, Koroupi also discussed ongoing projects at both airports.

The video interview can be seen below, in Greek, followed by a transcript, translated into English.

Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development, Marketing and Communication, Hermes Airports:

It's been one year since the first edition of our newsletter, Flight Mode, an initiative that we launched with the aim of offering more specialized and holistic information on broader developments in the aviation industry, but of course also to regularly inform you about the initiatives we are developing at the two airports in Cyprus.

2024 was a landmark year, as for the first time, total passenger traffic reached 12.3 million total passengers, recording an increase of 5.6% compared to 2023. This becomes even more important if we consider the challenges faced by the sector in recent years, either due to the pandemic, or due to various geopolitical challenges, or due to specific technical problems that forced many airlines to ground part of their fleet. At the same time, the results of 2024, which are of course also linked to the very good results of the tourism industry, confirm the resilience of Cyprus as a tourist destination and prove in the best way that collective work brings positive results.

It is very important to maintain the good prospects for stable growth and to invest in year-round connectivity, which will have multiple benefits for our country. Within this framework, in the first ten days of 2025, we organized the conference " Beyond Sea and Sun ", launching a substantive dialogue on the transformation of Cyprus into an all-year tourist destination. This initiative emerged from various discussions we have had from time to time with tourism stakeholders, airlines and tour operators. We all agree that Cyprus has many qualities, many untapped natural and human potential and that the transition to an all-year destination is not an option, but a necessity for the sustainable development of our country. The conclusions of the conference, which we will share in the immediate future, we hope will form the basis of a discussion on the future of tourism in our country.

For the new year, we remain firmly committed to our strategic goal of further enhancing Cyprus' connectivity. We believe that the conditions are in place to maintain the growth momentum and achieve penetration in existing markets as well as the addition of new routes.

At the same time, for us at Hermes airports in 2025 also marks the start of Phase 2 projects at Cyprus airports, a project that will last approximately 2.5 years and will create the conditions for serving an even greater number of passengers with a horizon until 2040. An equally important priority for us is serving the passenger public and we are working to solve problems we faced last year and to be ready to face any difficulties that may arise during the execution of Phase 2 projects.

You can also view the interview in Flight Mode here and the full online edition here.