2023 sees record year for air traffic

Cyprus Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades announced that this year’s passenger traffic at airports will go down in the history books as it surpassed the record set in 2019.

In a statement on Friday, Vafeades said that as of December 15, passenger traffic at airports has exceeded the total traffic of the entire pre-pandemic year of 2019, when over 11 mln passengers walked through Cyprus’ airports.

2023 is expected to end with an increase of about 3% compared to 2019.

The Minister mentioned that the above increase in passenger traffic, with a positive impact on the Cyprus economy and tourism, is the result of the joint efforts of the Transport Ministry, airports operator Hermes, and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism to boost airport connectivity.

The increase in flight frequencies and destination was crucial too. During this year, 157 routes were offered by 56 airlines, providing connectivity to 39 countries.

The record year for tourist arrivals, 2019, saw 11.3 mln travellers passing through Larnaca and Paphos airports.

The same year, Cyprus welcomed a record 3.97 mln tourists.

The island’s two airports are estimated to contribute around 4% of Cyprus’ GDP.