Mideast carriers bullish on Cyprus

Middle East carriers are bullish on Cyprus as a top government official confirmed they were in talks with Emirates airline, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways to increase frequencies or to launch flights to the Mediterranean country.

Antonis Paschalides, Cyprus' Minister of Trade, Commerce, Industry, Tourism and Energy, told Emirates Business: "Air Arabia has already received the rights to fly to Cyprus and it should launch operations by the fourth quarter of 2010 or the first quarter of 2011 from its Sharjah hub. The airline currently has permission to operate three weekly flights to Cyprus.

"We are hoping to use Air Arabia's Sharjah hub as a stepping stone to create greater connectivity with India, as there are no direct flights currently operating between the two countries."

Talking about other GCC-based airlines, the minister revealed: "Kuwait's Jazeera Airways has also received rights, but has had to delay their launch for some reason. We have given them a deadline to commence operations before the year-end. The airline should also operate three weekly flights."

Aside from the two budget airlines, full service UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad are also increasing frequencies to Cyprus, according to Paschalides. He said: "Emirates currently operates seven weekly flights to Cyprus, but has gained permission to increase this to 10. Abu Dhabi's Etihad is also increasing frequencies from three weekly flights to daily very soon."

The minister also did not rule out talks with other GCC carriers such as flydubai and Qatar Airways to launch services to the island nation.

According to the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, more than 60,000 tourists are expected from the Middle East in 2010, of which 18,000 are expected from the UAE alone.

Vassilis Theochardies, Director of CTO Middle East and Arabian Gulf, said: "The top three destinations for inbound tourism to Cyprus are Lebanon, the UAE and Egypt, in that order."

Paschalides added: "Tourism accounts for 10 per cent of the country's annual income and we are taking all necessary steps to ensure we can keep this momentum going."

The government of Cyprus also recently announced a 50:50 Dh551 million joint venture deal with Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company to build a sprawling complex that would accommodate a five-star hotel, luxury apartments, retail space and offices, all in a bid to boost tourism in the country.

The minister stated the five-star hotel would be a top international chain, which would be decided by Qatari Diar, and future investments from the company could soon follow.

He added: "Foreign Direct Investment into Cyprus last year accounted for €1.4 billion (Dh6.65bn). We expect this number to increase by a small percentage this year."

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