Cyprus Airways enjoys rapid expansion
Cyprus Airways carried a total of 260,000 passengers in the first half of 2023, marking a steep increase of 300% year-on-year, while it doubled its operations compared with June of last year.
According to a press release, in June the Cypriot flag carrier carried 59,110 passengers, compared with 29,979 last year.
Last month, Cyprus Airways operated 478 scheduled flights (June 2022: 280 flights) and improved its load factor by 3%.
Compared to June 2019 (the most important benchmark), before the start of the pandemic, Cyprus Airways carried 44% more passengers on its scheduled services and operated 34% more flights, the company added.
From January to June, Cyprus Airways carried 260,000 (scheduled and charter) passengers compared with 64,000 passengers in the respective period of last year, corresponding to an annual increase of more than 300%.
Compared with the first half of 2019, Cyprus’ historic record year for tourism, Cyprus Airways operations were down by 35.5%.
“We are now at peak summer and all our 18 destinations for this summer are operational. With over 60 weekly flights to a variety of destinations, we have made sure to offer a great summer schedule for our customers,” said Paul Sies, chief executive at Cyprus Airways.
He added that “the congested airports and airways are themselves challenging. Furthermore, the use of wet-leased capacity from third-party airline Nordica helped us to increase our number of flights; however, this has not always delivered the punctuality we are used to of our fleet,” and apologized to anyone that has been touched by or experienced such a delay.
As Sies noted the addition of two new Airbus A220 aircraft to the company’s fleet “will undoubtedly help us to offer our passengers a superior onboard travel experience whilst improving our operational efficiency and environmental sustainability efforts. With our new aircraft coming online we will have more opportunities to absorb delays and deliver a better service to our guests.”
According to the company, the A220 boasts a large and quiet cabin offering the widest economy seats and the largest overhead stowage in its class. It also enjoys impressive fuel efficiency, with a 25% reduction in fuel burn per seat.
