The aircraft occupancy rate for flights arriving in Cyprus in May reached around 85%, with an increase in traffic during this period, stated Maria Kouroupi, Director of Aviation Development and Communications at Hermes Airports, in an interview with Cyprus News Agency. She added that approximately 41,000 passengers depart from or arrive at Larnaca and Paphos airports daily.

Ms. Kouroupi noted, "The summer season started much better than we anticipated at the beginning of the year when there was a loss of airline seats mainly due to the war in Israel and issues with an airline that was forced to reduce its flights to Cyprus."

However, she continued, "In recent months, through various efforts, we have managed to recover much of the seat availability that was lost."

In response to a question about the Israeli market, Ms. Kouroupi said, "From Israel, we are at about 90% of what would be a normal year, as a specific airline has added seats, almost restoring its flight schedule."

She added, "There are also increases from other airlines, either in the form of new routes or additional seats on existing routes."

"The summer season is going very well. May was 4% higher than last year, and overall, from the beginning of the year, we are 5% higher than the previous year, with occupancy rates higher than last year. Things are going well regarding passenger traffic," she said.

Responding to a question, Ms. Kouroupi said, "Of course, Cypriots are traveling too, but the majority of air traffic involves visitors to our island. We believe that strong passenger traffic indicates good prospects for the tourism industry."

When asked if there are any new airline routes this year, she affirmed, listing new routes including Belfast in Ireland, Nantes in France, Tallinn in Estonia, Radom in Poland, and Liverpool in the UK. "Additionally, some seasonal routes have been added from various regional airports in Scandinavian countries, and seat availability has increased from both the UK and Poland," she noted.

Generally, Ms. Kouroupi said, "We see significant momentum from various countries, with approximately 41,000 passengers arriving and departing daily at both Cyprus airports. The occupancy rate in May was around 85%, and it has increased during this period," she mentioned.

Regarding the Russian market, Maria Kouroupi said, "Despite the absence of direct flights from Russia to Cyprus, there is a steady flow of visitors from this country to our island via other countries. We believe that this year will be a good tourism year," she concluded.

Staying on tourism, 'there have been no flight cancellations to Cyprus', Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis told CNA, adding that "the fires have been extinguished, and our country remains a safe destination."

"In response to a report in the British press questioning whether flights to our country have been canceled due to the fires that broke out this week, I want to confirm that we had no flight cancellations," said the Deputy Minister.

He noted that "all scheduled flights are operating normally, the fires have been extinguished, and our country remains a safe destination."

On the contrary, he added, "Today we had the inaugural flight of Royal Jordanian from Amman, Jordan to Paphos Airport, the resumption of Jazeera Airways flights from Kuwait to Larnaca Airport, and, in general, flight schedules to our country continue to strengthen on a weekly basis."

He also reminded that earlier this week, Wizz Air announced an increase in the number of its flights from a total of 11 European airports.