New Cyprus Airways Dubai-Larnaca flight set for take off

Cyprus Airways is to add an extra flight to its Dubai-Larnaca sector following a surge in demand for seats, according to a leading executive.

The Mediterranean carrier will increase its weekly flights to and from the UAE to three next summer, Stavros Kyprianou, the airline's Middle East and Gulf chief, revealed this week.

"It became clear last summer that more seats were required during the peak period. Scheduling of another flight is responding to the needs of the public," says Kyprianou.

The extra non-stop flight will be available from April 1, 2003 until October 29. It has initially been pencilled in for Tuesdays, according to Kyprianou. The airline already has return flights from Dubai to Cyprus each Thursday and Sunday. An Airbus A319 will continue to service the Dubai route.

Kyprianou says: "The increased demand for seats on our planes to Cyprus from Dubai spans business and leisure travellers. Cyprus is simply a great place to visit.

"We are also aiming to increase outbound GCC traffic by introducing more Cyprair holiday packages." Cyprair is the travel arm of Cyprus Airways.

Meantime, Cyprus Airways recently reported a 4.6 per cent systemwide rise in passenger traffic for the first half of this year.

Cyprus' national carrier services all major European and Middle East destinations. It flies to Larnaca from Amman, Bahrain, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh.