.
The new 656-million-euro Larnaca International Airport started partial operations on Tuesday, with Communications and Works Minister Nicos Nicolaides and Hermes Airports CEO Alfred van der Meer welcoming the first passengers to arrive from Amman at 7.25am.
Moments later, departing passengers boarded Cyprus Airways’ flight to Athens using one of the 16 new air bridges, having received souvenir mugs and free tickets from the national carrier that will be the only airline to use the new terminal for a week, together with Easyjet.
All other airlines, including Aegean, that operates its own lounge in the new building and is the first to use the e-ticketing service, will start using the new terminal next Tuesday.
Nicolaides said that it was a “historic day” for Larnaca, Cyprus and the country’s air transport.
“Everything is going well, the climate is very good,” he said, adding there is a mood by every one to maintain the service in the new airport at high standards.
GLAM CEREMONY
The new terminal building was inaugurated by President Demetris Christofias on Saturday, welcoming a new age of innovation and development in air transportation for Cyprus.
In his inaugural speech, President Chrsitofias said the new airport would play a significant role in establishing Cyprus as a key transit point for decades to come. He noted that “with its operation, we feel the new Larnaca airport guarantees that Cyprus plays a significant role in the broader Eastern Mediterranean area.”
Christofias said that the airport would help Cyprus emerge from the grip of the financial crisis, while he ensured that the government will take necessary measures to ease the consequences on the tourism sector.
The new airport terminal, built by French giant Bouyges Batiment International and operated by the Hermes Airports Consortium for 25 years, will have a capacity of 7.5 mln passengers a year, with a prospect of raising that to 9 mln. The old terminal, built hastily in 1975 seven months after the Turkish invasion, had a design capacity of 3 mln passengers but handled 5 mln.
The new airport terminal is three times as big as the previous one, employs 16 air bridges to reduce time and cost for airlines and has far greater parking spaces. It will soon have an autonomous solar-powered energy unit and operator Hermes Airports plans to build a hotel east of the terminal building.
French Minister of State responsible for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche, said it was greatly appreciated by his government that a French operator was selected for such an endeavour, which is the largest ever French direct investment in Cyprus.
He also noted that this event “is a very good demonstration of the wide-range of the bilateral relationship between France and Cyprus, a relationship that is built on shared values and has deepened over the last ten years”
He also conveyed a message of friendship by President Nicolas Sarkozy and the people of France to President Christofias and the people of Cyprus, adding in a political statement that “all sides in a conflict should be prepared to make some compromises.”
FIVE NEW AIRLINES
Nicos Shacolas, chairman of the operator Hermes Airports, said that the new airport building was delivered without any delay, noting that its construction makes it one of the biggest investments ever in Cyprus without any governmental funding and guarantees.
He also announced that at least five new airlines would be using Larnaca airport in coming weeks.
Hermes Airports Vice-Chairman Daniel Rigout of Bouygues said “the proof of the fulfilment of all our engagements stands today before you, and we are extremely proud to have contributed to this project and in doing so, making available all the resources of the Bouygues Group.”
He noted that “we wanted to make this place a significant gateway to Cyprus, a place that would be unique and that, beyond the quality of its technologies, had a soul”, adding that “we also paid particular attention to the sustainable development aspects in the design and in the construction, and we have the ambition within the next months, with the help of all concerned parties, to complete this project with a unique installation in Europe, enabling a significant production of electricity by a solar plant.”
Cypriot EU Commissioner for Health Androulla Vassiliou assured in her speech that the European Commission will continue to support all efforts for the successful operation of the new airport. She said that the new airport is something that everyone was waiting for not only in Cyprus but in Europe as well, as it constitutes a strategic point for entering Europe and a hub in the Middle East and a connection point between the East and West.
“UNAFFORDABLE”
Despite the celebratory mood, a leading airline industry lobby group issued a stern warning saying the costs for using the new terminal building were making it unaffordable.
The International Air Carrier Association (IACA) said the weekend’s celebrations of the opening of the new Larnaca airport were premature.
“The cost of the new airport, which is being passed through to the airlines, and the increased cost of service provision combined together are unaffordable for many of the carriers, in the current harsh economic climate,” a IACA announcement issued in Brussels said.
Commenting on the new airport, Luc Geens, IACA’s Manager of Operations said that, “the airlines find all the flag waving for this new airport bittersweet. It is inappropriate in today’s difficult environment to add more costs for our carriers and making Larnaca one of the most expensive airports in Europe to fly to.”
“While the Cypriot government has helped airlines with the reduction in landing charges, we need these to be extended for at least one more year,” he added.
“We have written to the government to ask for an extension of the cost reductions. At a time when Cyprus desperately needs income from tourism, we hope that its government realises that the airlines are not just cash cows,” Geens concluded.
IACA represents 34 airlines serving the leisure industry and has lobbied for a reduction in airport fees and taxes ever since the B-O-T operator took over less than two years ago. Its members transport over 100 million passengers a year to 650 holiday destinations worldwide.
