-
.
- Ελληνικά
Statements by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works and Deputy Minister of Tourism
We will examine at a political level Turkey's decision not to ban flights by Russian aircraft and will assess whether to change our decision to close the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus, Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Mr. Yiannis Karousos, who was invited to a press conference to answer a question on whether the Republic will activate the reservation expressed at the Foreign Affairs Council to review the decision to close its airspace.
At the same time, both the Minister of Transport and the Deputy Minister of Tourism stressed that we should not forget that at the moment there is a war in Ukraine and this affects not only flights but also the economy of Russia itself.
As Mr. Karousos said, "First of all, let us say that we have a war in Ukraine and whatever happens, Russia's economy has been so negatively affected that even if there was no flight ban, we would not have the tourists we expected. The measures and the sanctions are so difficult and harsh that we can see that they have affected Russia's economy.
We have 1.6 million passengers that we expected to come from these markets. When the issue was raised at the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the issue was discussed, we succeeded in getting the specific reservation on the record that we reserve our right to reconsider or change our position if Turkey does not implement it or tries to instrumentalize the issue with the occupied territories. We have heard the statements from Turkey's side, it is something that we will discuss with both the Foreign Minister and the President of the Republic himself so that decisions can be made. For the time being, our decision stands, what was decided in the Council, but I stress that we are the only country that had a reservation, which was recorded and which, as far as I have been informed, was also exempted in legal ways in order to secure this reservation. The rest is a matter of foreign policy and of the President of the Republic, which we will see depending on developments.
But I reiterate that we have a war and a country that is involved in a war, with the sanctions that exist, we should take it for granted in planning that everyone in the Government and the institutions that are directly or indirectly involved in air transport or tourism, that we will not have tourists from these countries, regardless of whether or not there is a ban on flights."
But I repeat that we have a war and a country that is involved in a war, with the sanctions that exist, we should take it for granted in planning that we will not have tourists from these countries, regardless of whether or not there is a ban on flights.
Continuing, the Transport Minister noted that attention is now turning to actions that will attract new markets, in an effort to make up as much as possible for the gap created by the Russian and Ukrainian markets. "We have excellent cooperation with the Airport Operator and we also have the experience from the coronavirus that we proved in the crisis that with a proper, methodical and collective effort and cooperation, we can get results," he said."
"You don't see the result of TUS today because of the situation in Ukraine. It is the result of work over the last year essentially. We are pushing companies, we have teleconferences with companies, we prove with statistics that there is interest and a route can be profitable. As we heard today, in Brussels, at the main airport, there will be a flight at a convenient time for people interested in travelling. The fact that there was no route to Brussels we were close to subsidising it with several millions and the fact that TUS is including this route in its programming saves us a lot of money which we will use elsewhere," the Minister explained.
Also referring to connectivity with Saudi Arabia, Mr. Karousos noted that it was a market that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism had included in its strategy and after visits and contacts by the Deputy Minister, air connectivity was achieved. "Once we have connectivity the rest will follow whether it is tourism or business or anything else. In 2021, we had more destinations compared to 2019, which was better in terms of passenger traffic and we will continue because it is time to move away from some over-dependencies we have on some markets. It's an opportunity in the midst of a crisis, a window. There is interest from other airlines. Politically, we will do what we have to do to protect the country's economy and you will see more positive news on the issue of air connectivity."
In response to the same question, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Savvas Perdios reiterated that "we have to be particularly cautious when it comes to the Russian-speaking markets, since there is a war going on right now that no one knows when it will end or when we will be able to reopen our airways for the Russian market, no one knows after we open them when they will allow us to be on both sides. He added that in any case, we should not underestimate the blow to the Russian economy because of the sanctions imposed. "Where the ruble has reached, and flights were open, I very much doubt that we could have tourism from this market or at least in the numbers that we used to have."
This is, he continued, a very serious issue and everyone involved in the tourism and aviation sector must "work on a scenario where there will be minimal to non-existent arrivals from these markets." He expressed the hope that the situation would improve in the process, stressing however that "we have an obligation to ourselves and the tourism operators to think about the worst-case scenario from these two markets, so that we can make the moves we need to make in time to make up for what is being made up". We should, Perdios said, keep in mind that the situation may not improve soon.
Speaking about the opening of Cyprus to new markets, the Deputy Minister of Tourism pointed out that the connection of our country with markets such as Saudi Arabia and France is the result of targeted actions that preceded. "As far as France is concerned, I have said it many times, it is a market that we were wrong not to have in Cyprus. For me it is by far the best market in the European Union, not only in terms of spending, but because the French are quality and as people - they understand culture, food, wine, nature. So they are a clientele that will particularly appreciate Cyprus. It is the number one market that the Ministry of State is marketing to. It may sound strange that we are marketing in a country where we have no connectivity. But which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Is an airline going to come and risk putting in flights for us when we have not created demand in that market for Cyprus through marketing? And there, one thing leads to another," Perdios finally said.
(MCI)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
Source[/URL][/P]
