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The Ministry of Transport and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism are working hard, in order for Cyprus to absorb the impact of the closure of airspace for Russian aircraft, Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yiannis Karousos told CNA, expressing hope that these efforts will have results.
Asked to comment on the situation in aviation after the decision to close European airspace to Russian aircraft, Mr. Karousos said that the Cypriot authorities for 2022 estimated 1.3 million passengers to and from Russia (arrivals and departures), which would perhaps account for 15% of the country's total air traffic.
"We believe that this traffic, if the situation continues, will be lost, it is a given," Karousos said, adding that the Ministry of Transport and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism "are working hard to improve the air connectivity of the country."
"Already it is something that is bearing results, in 2021 we had more destinations than we had in 2019," he added.
He said that based on the statistics, it turned out that the way we managed the situation in the midst of the coronavirus, we had one of the lowest reductions in connectivity issues and "e are working hard to increase routes to alternative destinations, to bring in new destinations and new countries." He added that "I believe we will bring results."
"The goal is to compensate any losses we will have from the Russian and Ukrainian market with other countries and destinations," he said, adding that the Ministry of Transport is working on connectivity and the State Ministry of Tourism is working on tourism promotion.
Saying that there is interest from several airlines, the Transport Minister added that "we have been in contact with companies for some time to give other options and open up other destinations and we will do everything possible to absorb any negative impact that this decision will have."
Finally, he said that in the coming days "important announcements are expected on the issues of our country's air connectivity, which will be positive", without giving further details.
Meanwhile, before the decision to close the airspace to Russian aircraft was taken, there were 20 flights a week, accounting for around 6% to 6.5% of air traffic, and this figure was expected to rise to 12% next month.
Source: CNA
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