The state will be covering the cost of repatriation of passengers who were left stranded after Cypriot carrier Cobalt Air terminated its operations late on Wednesday 17 October, Transport Minister Vasiliki Anastasiadou said.

Low-cost airline Ryanair announced it has launched rescue fares on a number of its Paphos routes to accommodate stranded Cobalt customers.

The occupancy rate at Paphos hotels is expected to reach 95% in October 2018, president of the local Hotels Association Thanos Michaelides said.

A court in Guernsey has appointed two administrators to oversee the winding up of construction company J&P Overseas Limited, which went into administration last week after its lenders rejected its restructuring proposal.

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus recorded a historic high in September 2018 and in the first nine months of the year, figures released recently by the Statistical Service show.

Cyprus appears in a list of 21 countries whose 'golden passport' schemes threaten international efforts to combat tax evasion, according to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report.

Upgrading the historical centre of Ayia Napa and the implementation of other projects will increase tourist arrivals to the resort by 150,000 and extend the tourist season by three months, Mayor Yiannis Karouzons told the press recently.

Cyprus ranked first at the end of 2017 among EU countries in terms of absorption of funds from the European Regional Development Fund and sixth from all European Funds, Dean of European Court of Auditors, Lazaros Lazarou recently.

Non-performing exposures (NPEs) in the Cypriot banking system declined to 40.3% of total loans in the end of June 2018, marking a reduction of €3.28 billion compared with the end-of March 2018, and €10.7bn or 39.1% since the end-of December 2014, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) said recently.

Cyprus Airways recently announced it had become a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that represents more than 280 airlines around the world.