May 2021 was the month recording a higher passenger traffic in both of the island’s international airports than all of the year’s four previous months put together.
And this raises expectations for substantially improved tourist prospects in the remaining months of the year, Philenews reports.
Latest available data from Hermes Airport – the company managing both airports, shows the number of departures and arrivals of passengers in the fifth month of the year rising to 250,000 compared to 108,000 in April. This records a significant percentage increase of 131% .
And all this despitr the fact tha due to coronvirus restrictive measures, last May was essentially closed and only 9,897 passengers were transported – all from Larnaca airport. There were no flights to and from Paphos airport.
Despite the increase in passenger traffic in May, which is largely attributed to the increase in flights from Israel and Russia, returns of the year’s first five months remain significantly lower than last year’s but also compared to 2019.
Specifically, in the first five months of this year, passenger traffic at the two airports was reduced to 481,055 passengers, compared to 1,154,625 in the first five months of last year (-58.3%) and compared to 3,393,862 passengers in the period January – May 2019 (- 85.8). 2019 was the best year in the history of Cyprus’ tourism.
According to the airlines’ plans, an increase in passenger traffic is not ruled out on a monthly basis in June, however, according to market insiders the landscape remains fluid due to the pandemic.
What could give a significant boost in the near future is the possible upgrade of Cyprus to the UK’s green list. Such a development would significantly enhance flights to the island.
Another boost will be the introduction of the EU green certificate which aims to facilitate trips throughout the bloc.
