Airport operator Hermes which runs Larnaca and Paphos airports recorded its highest number passengers for a single month this year during October.
Figures show 951,820 passengers passed through the airports, exceeding the 867,097 total for August, which is usually the busiest month for arrivals.
Hermes said the totals in October for Larnaca (619,501) and Paphos (332,319) were a “positive outcome” given the pandemic, which affected holiday and business travel.
There was a significant influx of passengers from the United Kingdom, along with the Russia, Greece, Germany and Poland.
“Several factors contributed to this encouraging result in October. Primarily, the improvement of the epidemiological picture of Cyprus at the beginning of the month and the transition of our country from the red to the orange category of the ECDC has been an important factor,’ said Maria Kouroupi, Hermes Airports Senior Manager Aviation Development, Marketing & Communications.
“Even though the period of our stay in this category was short, it helped the image of our country abroad. At the same time, October was a month with two holidays close to the weekend, which acted as an incentive for our compatriots to travel to various destinations.
“It also seems to confirm the great need of people to travel again, something that can be seen from the report of the European Travel Commission which in fact records the high demand for travel in Europe with two out of three Europeans planning to travel in the next six months.”
A €650 million upgrade of the Larnaca and Paphos airports was completed in 2006. The international tender was won by Hermes Airports, a French-led group.
