Cyprus Airways recorded a significant increase in its passenger numbers in April 2023. Specifically, the Cypriot airline stated in a press release that it transported 60,237 passengers last month compared to 11,556 in April 2022.

According to the airline, 48,237 passengers were carried on its regular flights and an additional 12,000 passengers were carried on charter and ACMI services.

In April, the company operated 371 flights compared to 158 in the responding month of 2022 and improved its load factor by 22 percentage points. Compared to 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, Cyprus Airways carried 59% more passengers on its scheduled services and operated 45% more flights.

Natalya Milovanova, Chief Financial Officer of Cyprus Airways, stated that "in April, we started to operate flights to Dubai and Cairo, two crucial destinations that advance our strategic plan to improve Cyprus' international connectivity. This encouraged us to continue exceeding our performance goals, achieving month-to-month passenger growth, both in 2019 and 2022. This month, we will continue to expand our connectivity with weekly flights to Zurich, Prague and Basel, while Milan will be added as a destination on June 1st”.

"As the third-largest carrier in Cyprus only behind Aegean Airlines and Wizz Air, we provide new incoming tourist and business passengers to the island, strengthening the local economy," she added.

The CEO of the company, Paul Sies, also noted that the airline has proven that it is not an opportunistic carrier and added that Cyprus Airways’ services are closely linked to the Cypriot community. "With a dedicated team of people, a great network and two additional -new generation- aircrafts joining the fleet, Cyprus Airways ensures that it is the carrier with the best possible value”, Paul Sies claimed.

In addition, he apologized for the difficulties encountered in communicating with the company's call center back in April, blaming the large number of reservations. In regard to the above, the CEO explained that more staff was hired and operating hours were expanded in the hope of making communication with the company easier.

"In April, we had a high number of bookings and at times it seemed difficult to communicate with our call center. We apologize for this. As of May 1st, we have hired more staff and extended our operating hours. We hope that this will make communication with us much easier," Paul Sies confirmed.

In the bigger picture, Cyprus is steadily becoming a popular and low cost tourist destination, with the number of tourists from different markets increasing each year, since the island's advantages appeal to visitors from Europe and beyond. This year’s high number of bookings indicate positive expectations and it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to highlight the benefits of Cyprus as a top-tier tourist destination and ensure the industry’s competitiveness.