Mini airport upgrade to start immediately

Focus on passengers

A mini upgrade to Larnaca and Paphos airports is due to start immediately, with the aim of improving the airport buildings before the 2006 tourist season.

At the main airport in Larnaca, work will concentrate on adding 1,500 sq m of space, to allow two new baggage carousels, a larger area for arrivals, including a smoking room, and more room for the car rental firms, which are currently squashed into the space between customs check and the public area of the airport.

Just as important, the car park will rise from 550 to 730 vehicle capacity. The car park is often closed when it is full to capacity, forcing people to drive round and round the airport until a space comes free, or simply to park illegally.

Paphos airport will also see more parking spaces and other improvements.

This mini upgrade is welcome in so far as it immediately addresses some of the passengers’ concerns. In a Daily Telegraph survey of British tourists in 2004, Larnaca was voted the world’s “most disappointing” airport.

However, it looks like this mini upgrade will do nothing for the time being to introduce real competition in the area of food, and thereby address the quality of food on offer and the nasty plastic on which it is all served.

This upgrade will cost around EUR 5 mln (CYP 2.9 mln), of which 70% will be covered by the state over 4 to 5 years.

When the airport tender was first announced in 2002, the government of the day estimated that it would cost CYP 210 mln (EUR 357 mln) up to 2010 at 2002 prices. Estimates are already putting the cost at EUR 500 mln.

Commission over your shoulder

The main question mark over the airport upgrade is the position of the European Commission. It has launched an investigation into how the tender was awarded, following accusations that the government changed the terms for Hermes, the second preferred bidding consortium, which eventually won the contract.