Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Demetriades, said the air transport sector has hugely developed in the last couple of years. Since 2015 when Cyprus Airways closed down, there has been an increase of around 3.6% in air traffic while this year, the increase for the first four months was up by more than 12%, he remarked.

The Minister also announced that the relevant state services approved the technical aviation permit for Cobalt airline which will start flights from Cyprus next month.

The Minister of Transport said that within June there will be direct connection with Iran, a very important development, adding that Cyprus is dynamically developing the air transport sector.

He also said that Blue Air has recently brought a second plane to Cyprus.

The Minister further said that measures have been taken to tackle the problems at Paphos Airport and there has been great improvement while additional measures will be taken.

Asked if the airports’ security will be given to the private sector, Demetriades said that negotiations are on the right track adding “this is what all modern airports throughout the world do”.

“The government has taken many decisions about structural changes regarding air transport and with the implementation of our open skies policy we see the results in the air traffic”, he concluded.

Source: Famagusta Gazette