is the national
Airline of
Cyprus , based in
Nicosia . It operates scheduled services to cities in
Europe , the
Middle East and the Gulf. Its main base is
Larnaca International Airport (LCA), with a hub at
Paphos International Airport (PFO).
Cyprus Airways was established on
24 September 1947 as a joint venture between the Cypriot Government,
British European Airways (BEA) and private interests. It started operations on
19 April 1948 . Initially
Douglas DC-3 aircraft were used on regional routes from
Nicosia . From
1953 Vickers Viscount s owned and operated by BEA were used on services to
London . These were replaced with the introduction of
De Havilland Trident Two aircraft acquired from BEA, with BEA red-wings, but otherwise in full Cyprus Airways livery. It lost its Nicosia base and several aircraft when
Turkey invaded Cyprus in July
1974 , but restarted limited operations from
Larnaca on
8 February 1975 . In
1992 it established, and wholly owns,
Eurocypria Airlines to obtain greater share of the charter market to Cyprus, and founded
Hellas Jet in
Greece in
2002 and holds a 75% share of that airline. Cyprus Airways is owned by the Government of Cyprus (69.62%) and private shareholders (30.38%).
Services currently flown are as follows (as of April
2006 ):
- Larnaca to Amman , Amsterdam , Athens , Bahrain , Beirut , Birmingham , Brussels , Cairo , Damascus , Dubai , Frankfurt , Heraklion , Jeddah , Kiev , London Heathrow , London Stansted , Manchester , Milan , Moscow , Paris , Riyadh , Rome , Tel Aviv , Thessaloniki , Vienna and Zürich .
- Paphos to Amsterdam , Athens , Birmingham , Frankfurt , London Heathrow and Luton .
The Cyprus Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (at September 2005):
The Cyprus Airways livery is an all white fuselage section, with the words ''Cyprus Airways'' in blue over the front passenger windows. The tail is all blue with a
Mouflon symbol, a type of wild sheep indegenous to Cyprus.
Cyprus Airways is a victim of a ticketing mishap by codeshare partner Alitalia. Alitalia sold hundreds of business-class tickets on the Toronto-Larnaca routes for $39.00 CAD - Cyprus Airways will have to transport the passengers on the Milan/Rome-Larnaca legs, likely at a significant financial loss to the company.
