Larnaca Airport Enters New Era

Cyprus News – 20.4.08

The Cyprus Weekly reported this week that the new Larnaca airport will be open for business as planned in November, heralding a new era for travellers to Cyprus.

Work at Larnaca and Cyprus’ other airport, Paphos, which was completed last November, is one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken on Cyprus and seen as vital to boosting the tourism industry and in turn the island’s economy.

The good news for holidaymakers and homeowners alike is that a high-tech, modern new terminal is currently being built at Larnaca airport, close to the existing terminal, allowing for improved passenger capacity.

In addition, there will be increased public parking space, while a new air traffic control tower, a new fire station, a runway extension and improvements to the road infrastructure serving the airport are already in place.

Construction is expected to be completed in June, which will be followed by a five-month period during which staff will be able to familiarise themselves with new equipment before the airport officially opens in November.

Cyprus Communications Minister, Nicos Nicolaides, visited the new terminal last week to check on the progress of the building work and was happy with what he found. The minister said that the major challenges ahead were to get the new terminal fully operational and make sure that the old one will be able to cope with summer visitors to the island. He added that the authorities were doing everything they could to ensure that transition from the old to the new airport goes ahead without any major disruptions to travellers or staff at the airport.

Hermes Airports was awarded the contract in 2005 to rebuild, expand and operate the country's two airports, Larnaca and Paphos, at a cost of more than €620 million and the construction work is being financed under a special scheme which allows them to run the airports on a 25-year lease from the government.

When complete, both airports are expected to employ a combined 6,000 staff, and the Larnaca terminal will be able to handle 9 million passengers a year.