The Paphos Tourism Board has confirmed that local tourist bodies are seriously examining a proposal from low-cost carrier, Ryanair , for an autumn start to a raft of new flights from the town.
“we are considering a proposal for 30 weekly flights connecting Paphos to new destinations from October,” a tourism board spokesman said.
It would not be likely that any of the new flights would connect to the UK , possibly disappointing Paphos ‘ considerable British ex-pad community.
“We think that the UK is already well-served by airlines operating from Paphos. We don’t want to spread the competition. The plan would be for two aircraft to be based at Paphos running year-round scheduled flights.”
Likewise , the new flights would not compete with tour operators with a share of the market at Paphos , the spokesman said.
Ryanair has 43 bases and more than 1,200 low fare routes across 27 countries. Currently Paphos International Airport has all-year scheduled flights to only five countries: the UK, The Netherlands, Greece, Russia and Bulgaria. The remainder are chartered flights operating seasonally.
If Ryanair and local tourism bodies reach an agreement, the new services could bring a projected 230.000 new visitors a year.
“We want to expose Paphos to new markets but of course provide more options for local travellers, too. Paphos is ideal not only for the district but for people travelling from Limassol and Troodos.
The agreement with Ryanair has been on Hermes Airports Ltd “Incentive Scheme” which aims at developing new routes and increasing passenger traffic for the to international airports of Cyprus. any airline introducing new destinations bringing further traffic to Cyprus is eligible for the Hermes scheme which offers notable benefits including marketing support.
The agreement between Ryanair and Hermes Airports Ltd is for duration of five years. During this time Ryanair is expected to bring at least half million tourists to Cyprus.
The Paphos tourism authorities have been trying to establish a Ryanair presence at the local airport for five years.
Any new routes could help bolster the ailing tourism based economy.
Meanwhile, Hermes Airports Ltd said they didn’t wish to comment on the efforts.
“We continue to strive to attract new airlines to Cyprus and, as far as the developments in Paphos are concerned will give some time to both parties to evaluate all factors and make necessary decisions,” spokesman Adamos Aspris said,
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