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The percentage of flights affected in Cyprus by the situation at European airports is lower, Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said, while urging the travelling public to travel in months other than July and August.
In his statements after the annual commemoration of the 1964 & 1974 Heroes of the Fallen held in the community of Pigainia and asked about the impact of dozens of flights at Paphos and Larnaca airports and staff shortages, Mr. Perdios said that the positive thing is that we are talking about tens of flights and not hundreds or thousands, as it is for other destinations, such as Greece, Croatia, Spain and so on.
He added that the percentage of flights affected for Cyprus is lower. He also said that it is good for our fellow citizens who wish to travel in July and August to know the truth and that it is not a problem that can be solved.
So we should not expect "as if by magic someone will solve this problem, neither Hermes Airports can solve it, nor the Ministry of Transport, nor us as the Deputy Ministry of Tourism since there is so much demand for travel that airlines have not managed to staff their schedules as they should" . He said even airports abroad are short-staffed.
He then advised the travelling public who can travel outside of July and August and move their holidays further down to help themselves airlines and airports.
He added that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism does advertise for the summer but in a way that people abroad understand that Cyprus' summer extends to November. In this way we help the airlines, the airports, the agents who make the reservations and so on, he concluded.
Satisfaction with the five-month results
Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios described this year as the best, based on the official statistics given by the Statistical Service regarding tourist arrivals before five months.
Speaking after the end of the annual commemoration of the Heroes of the Fallen of 1964 & 1974 that was held in the community of Pigainia at the Church of St. Charalambos in Pigainia, he said that based on the official statistics of tourist arrivals before five months, we are about 75% at this time of arrivals compared to 2019.
This is, he continued, "a performance which under the circumstances is considered satisfactory considering that in this first five months we had to deal with Russia's invasion of Ukraine which unfortunately deprived us of a large share of our tourism this year and the outbreak of Omicron, which also during the first months of the year brought us back to Cyprus very strict protocols, the strictest in Europe", adding that under these circumstances we have to say that being at 75% today is not a bad development. Perdios noted that demand continues to be high.
However, he admitted that the current year is certainly not without difficulties, noting that it is a given that the numbers we lost from Russia and Ukraine are quite large.
He added that with the timely moves of the Deputy Ministry and the tourism operators they have managed to mitigate these losses somewhat. However, he said that there are always various adversities that they have to face, such as some cancellations that they see, especially in the last month.
There is so much demand internationally that the airports and various airlines do not have time to serve, he said, noting that we are entering the heart of summer, which are considered very strong months for tourism.
He pointed out that the positive thing in the whole case is that compared to other countries, Cyprus is less affected.
He pointed out that the positive thing in the whole case is that compared to other countries, Cyprus is less affected. It is not such a percentage of cancellations that make us worry, it is just another example of the difficulties and adversities we have to face, he added, stating that this is the reason why the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and other tourism bodies are constantly trying to keep their feet on the ground.
The situation, Perdios said, does not bear enthusiasm since everything is changing. We have, he said, "the pandemic still among us, and no one knows in two to three months where we will be in relation to this issue," adding that " the impact on the Russian market and on the Ukrainian market is not only for these three to four months will be continuous this impact."
Source: CNA
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