At the end of march ,Ryanair officially launches a raft of new flights  between Paphos and European destinations.

This favourable  development for local tourism follows years of negotiations amongst  the Paphos Tourism Board , the airport authorities and Rynair and is largely a result  of an  incentive plan aimed at enticing airlines to introduce flights or increase their existing service volume.

One  key point in the plan, which is presently being touted at a number of airlines, is a reduction in landing fees.

Ryanair is basing two of its aircraft at Paphos International Airport and connecting the town, in a year-round programme of weekly flights, with 15 destinations;  Budapest, Chaina, Frankfurt,  Kaunas Krakow, London Stansted,  Munich, Milan, Osio,  Patras,  Pise, Rome, Stockholm, Thessaloniki, and Venice.

Airport operator, Hermes and Rynair project that, over one year 600,000 visitors will come to the island.

Paphos Tourism Board has  statistics which indicate what the volume of arrivals will be once the new  flights start but can’t  release them to the media.

However the April 5 flights from Stockholm and Frankfurt have a heavy passenger load and the board will be celebrating their arrival with a special event for passengers.

“We are confident that the government will now back the Paphos tourist sector with more concrete support on infrastructure because of the new services” Paphos Tourism Board director,  Nassos Hadjigeorgious told.

But Hadjigeorgiou, along with other tourist chiefs in Paphos, feel that the positive potential for the tourist sector could be scuppered if it isn’t handled with care and are taking short-term measures in order to secure the long-term of local tourism.

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There is great interest in the island’s second  hydrocarbons licensing roun, the minister responsible  for energy said after taking  part in a London Forum this week.

“Cyprus’ pavilion  was visited by a great number of participants, who showed interest in receiving more details about  the second licensing  round,” Praxoulla Antoniadou said.

Antoniaodu headed a high-level delegation  from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as well as the group of experts appointed by the president.

On February 11, Cyprus opened a second round offering 12 offshore blocks for potential exploration and exploitation of oil and gas.

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With spring just around the corner and fields already full or herbs, don’t miss this great opportunity  to join  local herbalist Miranda Tringis   on a walk in the vicinity of Oroklini . a wide variety  of wild herbs grow in this area and Miranda will inform  you about the healing properties of plants that we see every day , but rarely notice.

The walks starts  Saturday at St.Elias church, on top of the  hill and continues until 1pm. The walking is not physically challenging, anyone can join in and the distance covered is not long.

During the walk Mirand will encourage  you to touch, smell and taste the plants, so that you get to know them up close and personal . she will tell you about the flower, energetic and actions of the plants you come across, Miranda says: “Most  of the plants we call weeds or wild flowers are in fact herbs, which we can use as food and as medicine. On this walk we will learn to identify and experience some of them.” Each participant will be given a herb journal in which to make a plant profile, record experiential findings, take notes and  keep for future reference.

All you need to bring is a bottle of water and a pen. Miranda reminds everyone to bring a camera, as the views from the hill are stunning. After the walk herbal tea and nibbles will be offered at the Cy-Herbia herb workshop in Oroklini.

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In 2010 the construction sector  continued for a second successive year to exhibit signs of recession, according  to official data.

The rate of growth of the sector (in term of value added at constant prices) is provisionally estimated to have    recorded a 7% decrease compared to a decline of 18.6% in 2009.

Gross  output of the sector at current market prices was reduced to euro3376b in 2009.

The subsector of building construction and civil engineering also recorded a decline of 6.2%, while the subsector of land and building development registered a decline of 22.7%.

New residential buildings accounted for 46.4% of the total gross output of the subsector of building construction and civil engineering. And new non-residential buildings(offices, shops, hotels, factories , airport buildings) accounted for 20.9%.

New civil engineering projects (roads and bridges, water supply and sewerage networks, telecommunications and electricity lines) for 24.5% and repairs and maintenance for the remaining 8.2%.

Employment in the sector fell from 36.384 persons in 2009 to 34.937 in 2010 accounting for 9.3% of the working population.

Builders registered as unemployed increased from 2.598 to 3.497 people. Labour costs in construction rose 3.5% compared to an increase of 4.8% in 2009. the price index of construction materials recorded a rise of 2.7% compared to a decline of 3.5% the year before.

The number of new dwellings completed dipped 19.3% to 13434 housing units from 16.644 in the previous year. Most of the new homes built were in Nicosia 3,921, followed by Limassol  3.108 and then Paphos 2.806.

The average size per house completed in 2010 was 205 square metres and 125 square metres for apartments, compared to 203 and 122 respectively in 2009.

Cost of construction per square metre (excluding the value of land) rose from euro896 in 2009 to euro920 in 2010 for houses and from euro783 to euro808 for apartments.

Housing stock at the end of 2010 amounted to 409.000 units, of which 62.7% were in urban areas.

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Non-profit educational science organisation , the Cyprus Institute (CYI), has begun carrying out pioneering  research into solar energy after securing a grant of euro515.000 from the EU.

Assistant professor  of the Energy Environment and Water Research Centre of the CYI Aris Bonanos said the OPTS project  (optimisation of  a thermal energy storage system with integrated steam generator), aims to investigate energy storage  methods in solar  applications.

“As one word is not always available , this research will aim to find  innovative  ways to store solar energy during the day so that it can be used at night,” said Bonanos.

He added that the OPTS project, funded by the EUs Seventh Framework  Programme will attempt to develop  this new system for thermal energy storage using molten salts in order to provide efficient, reliable and economic energy storage for the next generation of solar-thermal plants.

“The concept  is very simple  but the research  methods we are using are new and extremely complicated.”

The OPTS project is the result of an incubation process that took place within the Joint Programme on Concentrated Solar Power of the European Energy Research Alliance.

It is aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of cost-effective low, carbon technologies for the achievement of Europe’s 2020 targets and visions on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The three-year project, which has a European Commission financial contribution of over euro8m is coordinated by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and involves 10 other partners, from France, Germany, Israel, Spain and Portugal.

“The fact that Cyprus has secured this grant is remarkable and proves that the CYI is now a big player in global solar research,” concluded Bonanos.

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