Efforts are underway to increase flights to Cyprus by Aeroflot and Transaero to further improve arrivals from Russia, officials said this week.

‘The efforts are continuous and they are mainly focused on having flights from other Russian cities to Cyprus.

‘Russian state carrier Aeroflot flies from Moscow to Larnaca and we are trying to reach an agreement with it to fly from other Russian  cities also Cyprus.

‘With regards to the Russian private carrier Transaero, which currently flies from St Petersburg to Paphos, the aim is also to get to fly from other cities, ’Communications Ministry deputy permanent secretary Alecos Michaelides told.

‘With these efforts, the number of passengers flying to Cyprus with the two airlines would double . ıt is estimated that Aeroflot and Transaero currently carry around 200,000 pasengers to Larnaca and Paphos airports every year,’ he added.

Michaelides was not in a position to say how close to a deal the negotiations with the two airlines were, as there were some hurdles on the Russian side, with Aeroflot being a state carrier.

According to informed sources, the  recent announcement by Hermes Airports and the Communications Ministry of incentives for airlines sparked increase from a number of carriers including Hungary’s  Wizzair.

Hermes Airports spokesman Adamos Aspris was not in a position to reveal the names of the interested airlines but he admitted negotiations were underway.

‘there is an open communication channel with various airlines which have shows an interest.  It is a fact that negotiations are underway with more airlines that have expressed an  interest to take advantage of the incentive schemes of the two airports but we cannot reveal the names of these airlines since we wish to avoid the possibility of causing any damage to the negotiation process.’

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Emirates , one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, is holding a Cabin Crew Open Day on Monday, January 23 at The Palm Beach Hotel and Bungalows, Larnaca Dhekelia  Road, at 9.ooam.

Interested applicants from Cyprus are being offered the opportunity to explore their dream job and learn about living in cosmopolitan Dubai during the Cabin Crew Recruitment Open Day. A thriving metropolis,  Dubai offers an exceptional lifestyle and a vast range of leisure attractions, in addition to the sunny weather all year long. At the Open Day , interested men and woman will be  able to speak to the  Emirates’ recruitment team  and get an insight into the company, and work on board.

Emirates currently serves 118 destinations around the globe with a young, technologically advanced fleet of 168 wide-bodied aircraft that are equipped with industry-leading comforts. Additionally, Emirates  has 237 wide-bodied aircraft on order, worth more than US $84b, and is the leading customer of the Airbus A380 with 20 in its fleet and 70 on order. It is due to its rapid, dynamic expansion that Emirates is seeking 4,000 new cabin crew this financial year ending in March 2012.

Emirates offers diversified job activity on board with a truly international team: over 13,000 flight attendants, from more than 130 countries, speaking over 80 languages.

In Cyprus  Emirates Airline has successfully developed a niche for anyone travelling to the Far East, Australiasia and South Africa, Sixteen years ago,  the airline started its first operation from Dubai to Cyprus and has increased its frequency to a double daily flight. The morning flight arrives from Dubai, whilst the afternoon flight arrives from Malta on its way back to Dubai.

Emirates is seeking dedicated employees, who are open-minded, helpful, friendly and service-oriented.  Applicants have to be at least 21     years old at the time of a possible recruitment and are requested to bring an up-to-date curriculum vitae in English, and a passport photo and full length photograph.

Applicants are encouraged to register online in advance for the Open Day and can find  further information about career opportunities with Emirates at www.emiratesgroupcareers.com

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No frills  airliner  Ryanair will open its 50^th base- and first in Cyprus- at Paphos  airport in april offering 14 new destinations.

This is what Ryanair ‘s Michael Cawley told journalists in Nicosia this week, adding “Two based aircraft and 14 routes from Paphos will initially deliver over 600,000 passengers annually and sustain over 600 jobs with over 80 weekly flights”.

“Ryanair invests over $140 million at Paphos Airport…Ryanair’s  website attracts millions of would-be travellers, Paphos now well be there, it will have that visibility. It’s up to you to make them welcome,” he added.

The Paphos routes are to Patra, Chania, Frankfurt Hahn, Kaunas,  Krakow, Stansted, Memmingen, Bergamo, Oslo, Pisa, Rome,  Stockholm, Thessaloniki and Treviso.

The reason Ryanair chose Psphos as a base over the island’s  biggest airport, Larnaca was  because it has ‘more spare capacity’ and is  a very efficient airport’.

But they do not exclude further development from Larnaca with Cawley underlining that it’s an asset for Cyprus to have two airports.

“Cyprus-bound visitors can now beat the recession and escape high fares by switching to Ryanair’s  lowest fares and our no fuel surcharge guarantee,  said Cawley.

Of the  existing routes of the low-cost airline from Larnaca, only about 15% are preferred by locals. The airline expects that percentage to be lower from Paphos. From Larnaca, Ryanair flies to Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels and Dusseldorf.

In 2011, Ryanair recorded a total of 75 million passengers on its 1300 routes worldwide. The average fare is euro50.

The celebrate the big 50^th, it offered euro20,99 seats to almost all existing destinations for travel in late February  and  March. The deadline was midnight yesterday.

Bookings for the 14 new destinations from Paphos went on sale on Wednesday on www.ryanair.com

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Russian state carrier Aeroflot will soon launch flights to Paphos.

Paphos Akel MP Andreas Fakondis  said that Communications Minister Efthymios Flourentzos had told him an agreement had been made and procedures were at an advanced stage for the deal.

The revelation comes after budget carrier Ryanair announced it would be making Paphos  one of its bases.  Fakondis added:|”Also with the intervention of the President of the Repablic, Russian private airline Transaero will increase its flights from Russia to the town”

Aeroflot’s flights are expected to bring an additional 150,000 tourists to Paphos every year, he added.

Meanwhile Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) chairman Alecos Oroundiotis said that since the announcement of the incentive schemes for airlines by the government and Hermes Airports, a number of airlines had expressed an interest in Cyprus, including Hungary’s Wizzair.

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Flights at Paphos International Airport were back to normal shortly before noon yesterday ,after  an impromptu strike by employees of the ground handling company Swissport disrupted 16 flights and inconvenienced 3000 passengers.

The dispute erupted after Swissport notified its  Paphos Airport staff that 10 people had to be made redundant and that shifts would change so that those would handle the work durıng the busy hours.

‘We concluded our dialogue with the company this morning and the strike which stsrted on Wednesday ended today, after Swissport committed to not going ahead with staff redundancies and said we would continue our dialogue ın the next few days.

‘The company claimed ıt had suffered a reduction ın turnover and we argued that it needed its entire staff. Therefore there was a disagreement between the two sides’ .

‘The strike action which started yesterday at Paphos International  Airport has now ended Consequently, from this moment, the flight programme of the airport is now back to normal’, said Hermes airports communications director Adamos Aspris.

‘Hermes Airports wishes to Express its regret again to passengers fort he difficulties and inconvenience they suffered as a result of yesterday’s impromptu strike by  employess of the ground  handling firm Swissport,’ he added.

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