Aegean Airlines and Blue Air recently announced substantial expansion in operations to and from the island, in an attempt to profit form the market vacuum left by the former national carrier.

Cyprus ranks 14th among the 28 EU member states, according to the Innovation Union Scoreboard for 2014.

Bank of Cyprus has completed the third phase of its share capital increase with its retail offer to shareholders, it said recently.

Domestic credit card use in local retail was up 4% to €2.24 billion in 2014 while transactions of Cypriot card spending abroad fell 8% last year reaching €1.15 billion.

Producer prices in construction fell 0.4% in the third quarter of 2014 compared to a year before and rose 1% compared to the previous quarter, the statistical service said recently.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said that the worst is over with non-performing loans (NPLs) in Cyprus’ banking system.

Top Kinisis Travel, the agency appointed by the government to re-ticket Cyprus Airways passengers, served 4,000 people on Saturday and Sunday in the wake of the national carrier’s demise.

Cyprus saw its revenue from tourism slump 12% in October 2014 compared to a year ago to €217 million, the statistical service said recently.

The government wants to establisha new airline in succession of Cyprus Airways with the same brand name and logo in partnership with private investors.

Cooperative credit institutions in Cyprus have witnessed an influx of deposits totalling €260 million and an increase in their deposit base in the last two months of 2014.