Hermes Airports which manages and controls the two International Airports of the Republic of Cyprus, announced Friday that February 2023 was the best performing month ever and that a 10% increase was recorded, in passenger traffic, in comparison to February 2019.

"The best performing February ever at Cyprus Airports, was this February with a 10% increase in comparison to the passenger traffic of February in 2019, a record year in terms of passenger traffic", a press release says.

In total, more than 454.000 passengers traveled to and from Larnaka and Pafos airports. More specifically, 315,830 passengers traveled to and from Larnaka Airport, recording a 114% increase in comparison with 2022 and a 5% increase in comparison to 2019.

Concurrently, 138,778 passengers traveled to and from Pafos Airport, recording a 58% increase in comparison to 2022 and 26% in comparison to 2019.

The press release says that the top markets were Greece, the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland and Germany, corresponding to approximately 70% of the total passenger traffic, with a nearly 80% load factor.

Moreover, in comparison to February 2019, this February, 11 new destinations were introduced such as Paris, Prague, Rome, Marseilles etc. replacing the loss of the markets of Russia and Ukraine due to the war.

Senior Manager Aviation Development and Communication of Hermes Airports, Maria Kouroupi  said that Cyprus' connectivity is the driving force of the island's tourism industry, adding that "we are proud that the efforts made during the previous years have borne fruit, whilst the very positive results of February, reaffirm the people’s desire to travel as well as the fact that Cyprus is gradually winning odds on becoming a year-round destination".

"We are confident that this upward trend will continue in the months to come, and it will expedite the recovery of the tourism industry”, she said.