The Middle East crisis has impacted the number of passengers at Cyprus airports

In April of this year, Cyprus saw a decline in passenger traffic despite recording high numbers in previous months. Paphos Airport was particularly affected by the crisis in the Middle East.

According to a report by Hermes Airports, in April 2024, the total passenger traffic at Larnaca and Paphos airports was 959,300, compared to 966,300 in April 2023 and 864,900 in April 2019.

Larnaca Airport experienced an increase in the number of passengers, serving 655,000 in April of this year compared to 653,200 last year and 598,900 in April 2019.

Conversely, there was a decline at Paphos Airport, which received 304,300 passengers in April of this year compared to 313,100 last year. However, this figure is still higher than the 266,000 passengers in April 2019.

Experts attribute the decrease in passenger traffic to the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East following Iran's attack on Israel in April, leading to the closure of airspace in Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. This disruption had a negative impact on flights to and from these regions.

Despite the decline in April, the overall volume of air transport in Cyprus remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. In the first four months of 2024, air transport reached 2.6 million passengers. In 2023, Cyprus airports registered over 11.6 million passengers, the highest figure in history.