The government on Tuesday activated the national ‘Estia’ action plan for the reception of people fleeing the ongoing conflict in Israel.
The plan entails Cyprus acting as a hub for third country nationals fleeing the country to land in before being repatriated to their own countries of origin.
The decision was made following a meeting of the ministerial crisis management group, which was convened by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, and also attended by Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou and Public Order Minister Anna Procopiou.
The decision comes after Ioannou had earlier said Cyprus was ready to activate the plan.
If and when evacuations are required, as has happened in the past, “specific plans will be activated, such as the Estia plan, and accordingly the competent bodies of the government will be mobilised,” he said.
To this end, Cypriot airlines TUS Airways and Cyprus Airways are continuing and increasing the number of their flights between Cyprus and Israel.
TUS said on Monday it is organising “a significant number of additional flights” between Tel Aviv and Larnaca.
A total of seven additional flights on the route are set to take off on Tuesday, with eight extra flights in total set to take off on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, Cyprus Airways are continuing their flight programme to and from Tel Aviv as scheduled, though they said they are examining increasing capacity.
Additionally, they have waived ticket reissuance fees for passengers who hold valid tickets until November 15 and wish to travel earlier or later.
Cypriot airlines have bucked the global trend regarding flights to and from Israel, with flight tracking website Flightradar24 saying more than half of scheduled Tel Aviv flights did not operate on Sunday.
American carriers United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and American Airlines all suspended flights to Israel, while European carriers including Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Air France, Finnair and Wizz Air all suspended their services.
EgyptAir suspended flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv “indefinitely”, while other airlines including EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic adjusted their services.
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Mail
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