Traffic in commercial flights across the European Union, including Cyprus, in August 2021 was reduced compared to August 2019 due to the effects of the pandemic, according to data provided by Eurocontrol and presented by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.

Even though the number of commercial flights has been increasing across Europe during the past few months, traffic has a long way to go before reaching pre-pandemic levels.

In August 2021, the number of commercial flights to and from Cyprus had decreased by 24% compared to August 2019. The average reduction in flights across the EU during the same period stands at 31%.

Cyprus is in sixth place among the countries with the lowest reduction in flights when compared to 2019. The EU countries with the lowest decreases in commercial flights in August 2021 were Greece (7%), Romania (18%), Croatia (22%), Luxembourg (24%) and Malta (24%).

In contrast, flights decreased by the biggest amount in Finland (60%), Ireland (55%), Slovenia (54%), Slovakia (52%) and Czechia (51%).

However, the recovery of the commercial air transport sector appears to be underway. In August 2021, the number of commercial flights in the EU increased by 48% compared with August 2020. This is still well below the pre-pandemic levels (31% compared with August 2019).

Flights to and from Cyprus increased by 82% in August 2021 compared with August 2020, but as mentioned above remain 24% lower than the period before the pandemic.

In absolute terms, the number of commercial flights stood at 479,000 in August 2021, compared with 325,000 in August 2020 and 696,000 in August 2019.