October 2021 records the highest passenger traffic of the year for both Larnaka and Pafos airports. Specifically, the numbers recorded for both departing and arriving passengers reached to a total of 951,820 passengers (Larnaka Airport: 619,501 - Pafos Airport: 332,319) compared to 867,097 passengers recorded in August 2021 - traditionally considered the peak period of a year. This is a positive outcome, given that since last year, travel has been in general standstill due to the pandemic.
An analysis of arrivals shows a significant influx of passengers from Great Britain, even though until July there was uncertainty as to whether the country would open its borders to tourists. In October an increase was observed in passenger occupancy rates compared to August. At the same time and during this period, the trips of Cypriots abroad began to increase due to the long weekends of the month. Great Britain, Russia, Greece, Germany, and Poland were among the top countries from which travellers arrived in Cyprus.
Maria Kouroupi, Senior Manager Aviation Development, Marketing & Communications of Hermes Airports, mentioned that “Several factors contributed to this encouraging result in October. Primarily, the improvement of the epidemiological picture of Cyprus at the beginning of the month and the transition of our country from the red to the orange category of the ECDC has been an important factor. Even though the period of our stay in this category was short, it helped the image of our country abroad. At the same time, October was a month with two holidays close to the weekend, which acted as an incentive for our compatriots to travel to various destinations. It also seems to confirm the great need of people to travel again, something that can be seen from the report of the European Travel Commission (ETC) which in fact records the high demand for travel in Europe with 2 out of 3 Europeans planning to travel in the next six months.”
