Maria Kouroupi on the summer season’s prospects following a positive winter

The winter season has been positively assessed regarding Cypriot airports, as a significant increase in arrivals has been recorded, an element that proves that Cyprus has what it takes to become a year-round destination.

At the same time, the prospects for the summer season are also positive, as several new routes have already been announced, as well as additions to existing ones, while new airlines are preparing to start flights to and from Cyprus.

In fact, the management company Hermes Airports is intensifying its preparations in order for the airports to be ready and able to respond to the growing needs.

The winter season

According to data obtained by InBusinessNews, during the 2024-2025 winter season , a total of 22,302 flights were operated to and from the airports in Larnaca and Paphos, compared to 20,154 in the winter season 2023-2024, representing an increase of 11%.

Moreover, during the winter season, 36 airlines operated flights to and from Cyprus airports, with three of them - Air Haifa, LOT Airline and Animawings - operating for the first time.

Also, during the winter season, two new routes were added– to Chisinau (Moldova) and Haifa (Israel)-- while nine additions were recorded to existing routes to Cairo, Milan, London (Gatwick), Amsterdam, Warsaw and Copenhagen from Larnaka Airport and to Amman, Liverpool and Birmingham from Pafos Airport.

In her statements to InBusinessNews , the Director of Aviation Development, Marketing and Communication of Hermes Airports, Maria Kouroupi, emphasised that the winter season ended with particularly encouraging results, since, as she said, "for the winter months we recorded an increase of 11% compared to the corresponding period last year."

According to Kouroupi, "the increased arrivals in the winter months prove that Cyprus has the conditions in place to become a year-round destination that will offer experiences beyond the sun and the sea."

"More collaboration and planning is needed so that the appropriate messages are channeled to targeted customer categories. We believe that developing the winter season is the only way to go, taking into account climate change and changes in visitor criteria," she added.

The prospects for the summer season

Regarding the summer season and based on the airline's planning to date, during the summer of 2025 a total of 55 companies will operate flights to and from the airports in Larnaca and Paphos and a total of 61,019 flights are expected to take place.

During the summer season, flights to several new destinations are expected to begin, as follows:

• New destinations from and to Larnaca: Venice (Italy), Sibiu (Romania), Sandefjord (Norway), Örebro (Sweden), Marseille (France), Craiova (Romania), Haifa (Israel), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
• New destinations from and to Paphos: Amman (Jordan), Düsseldorf (Germany), Haifa (Israel), Lyon (France).

At the same time, it is expected that there will be an increase in flights on existing routes, specifically to Rome (Italy), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Frankfurt (Germany), Katowice (Poland), Manchester (England), Gatwick-London (England), Luton-London (England), Cluj (Romania), Cairo (Egypt), Kosice (Slovakia), Bergen (Norway), Chisinau (Moldova) and Warsaw (Poland).

Commenting on the aforementioned indications, the Director of Aviation Development, Marketing and Communication of Hermes Airports emphasised to InBusinessNews that "based on the airlines' planning, we estimate that passenger traffic will increase, since several new routes have already been announced, new airlines that are starting to fly to Cyprus, while there are also additions to existing routes with an increase in weekly flights."

"Our estimates show that the year will close at 13 million total passengers, which is a significant increase compared to last year," she added, noting that "the excellent results recorded in recent years, despite the challenges we have faced, confirm the resilience of the destination, but are also a verification of the strategy we have been following all these years for air connectivity."

Intensive preparations

Asked about the company's preparations, Kouroupi said that "in view of the summer season, Cypriot airports are strengthening preparations to respond to the expected increased passenger traffic", noting that "in parallel with the Phase II projects, various smaller and larger improvements are underway which, together, upgrade the overall passenger experience".

"The main challenge we have for this year and in general for the entire period during which the projects will run is ensuring the smooth and uninterrupted operation of the airports," she added, assuring that "as the management company of the two airports, we understand the challenges we are expected to face and we are preparing appropriately for them."

"We are constantly working and being vigilant so that our airports operate optimally and at the same time we are investing to improve the first and last impression that every visitor to our country has."

(Source: InBusinessNews)