Ryanair announce twelve new routes for winter 2018
By Bejay Browne
Ryanair announced 12 new routes from Paphos for winter 2018, increasing its capacity by 74 per cent over last year.
The new routes include Bournemouth and Liverpool and will contribute 940,000 passengers annually as Ryanair nearly doubles its operation in Paphos, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien told a press conference.
He told the Paphos Post that the increase from three winter destinations to 15 is going to need “an awful lot of effort by the tourist boards”.
“This is an opportunity, we’re going to provide the seats and exceptionally low fares but I think the hotels and the tourist board have really got to get the message out there in these cities that this is the place to go and this is how to get here. We look forward to working with the tourist boards to make that happen,” he said.
O’Brien said that Ryanair, in keeping with others, has identified central Eastern Europe and the Baltic states as an emerging source of customers and as unemployment has fallen in places like Poland and the Baltic States, he said, people now want to take holidays.
“Now is the time for Cyprus to grab this before Spain, Malta and everyone else does,” he said.
He said that as more and more hotels are staying open every winter, this is a positive move.
The new routes include twice weekly flights connecting Paphos with Amman, Bournemouth, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Chania (which has been reinstated), Krakow, Liverpool, Riga and Tallinn. Flights will be operated once a week to Dublin and Kaunas.
The 15 total routes will also include daily flights to London Stansted, Tel Aviv and Thessaloniki. The increase in routes is expected to generate a total of 700 jobs.
Last year Ryanair had to suspend a slew of flights following what the airline described as a ‘staff holiday rostering problem’.
O’Brien said that the mistake of rostering too many pilots on holiday at the same time was a “screw up” which led to the airline shrinking its winter programme to ensure they would be stable through the season, and this proved successful.
“The rostering problem was fixed and there is no problem. We are in discussions with various unions around Europe as part of a new phase of our evolution with a view to recognising unions and individual countries,” he added.
Paphos veterinary clinic awarded Gold at European awards
By Bejay Browne
A Paphos veterinary clinic has just been awarded a gold International Arch of Europe award at a ceremony held in Frankfurt, Germany.
The award is given by Business Initiative Directions (BID) and recognises D and N Vets in Paphos for ‘immeasurable contribution to the business world and for high standing and professionalism demonstrated by prestigious performance as well as quality and technology’.
Set up in Paphos in 2004 by husband and wife Dimitris and Natalia Demitriou, the veterinary clinic was awarded at the World BID Congress held on 17 to 18 March 2018 in Frankfurt.
Dimitris told the Paphos Post that the pair, who have just returned from Frankfurt, are delighted with their award which means much to both of them.
“I am feeling very proud and we were the only company from Cyprus to be recognised, we were flying the flag,” he said.
He added that the award is an international recognition of the high level of veterinary services provided in Cyprus and the dynamics of the industry in the domestic economy. The couple’s business was evaluated for ten months ahead of the awards, he said.
Natalia added that the award has taken their business ‘to the next level.’
“Our quality and management was recognised and we met so many other businesses from around the world, it was a great experience,” she said.
The event was attended by large companies from around 182 countries active in all sectors of manufacturing and business around the world.
The Business Initiative Directions (B.I.D.) were founded in the US before moving on to Spain in 1986, which then saw them expand across Europe.
Ahead of the gala dinner and award ceremony in Germany, the couple participated in a seminar and spoke about their business, sharing ideas with other awarded ventures from around the world.
“We are the first people in Cyprus to ever win this award and we have also just opened a new clinic in Dali in Nicosia,” Natalia said.
The pair met while studying in Russia a number of years ago. Their love of animals has passed down to their three children, she said.
Cypriot volunteer receives Commonwealth Points of Light award for protection of songbirds
By Bejay Browne
A Cypriot volunteer has received the Commonwealth ‘Points of Light’ award in honour of his campaign for the protection of songbirds in Cyprus.
Klitos Papastylianou is an environmental activist who is working to protect natural habitats and biodiversity in Cyprus.
During the migratory season Papastylianou actively campaigns against the illegal trapping and killing of over 2 million songbirds every year in Cyprus, which are later sold as delicacies in a black market multi-million pound industry. He also supports public consultation of construction projects across the island, to ensure the environmental impact is minimised.
The activist was presented with his award at the British High Commission in Nicosia by Ian Whitting OBE, Deputy UK High Commissioner in Cyprus.
Papastylianou said: “I want to thank the High Commission and the Points of Light for this great honour. I consider the award recognition of efforts in place to tackle two severe challenges for the protection of biodiversity in Cyprus: on the one hand, the illegal, mass and uncontrollable trapping and smuggling of wild birds, and on the other hand the insufficient policy to safeguard, preserve and manage natural habitats. I wish this award can contribute towards achieving these goals.”
Decision on Paphos marina due imminently
By Bejay Browne
A new administrative marina management committee has been appointed by the council of ministers and is currently examining documents and paperwork submitted as part of the tender process for the highly anticipated Paphos marina.
Head of the Paphos Chamber of Commerce (EVE) Andreas Demetriades told the Paphos Post he expects a decision between the two remaining bids and work to finally get underway on the facility at Potima Bay in Kissonerga.
“Because of successful recourse brought by the Poseidon consortium to the Supreme Court of Cyprus after their bid was rejected, which found that the committee responsible for overseeing the Paphos marina tender process was unlawful, the previous decision was void,” he explained.
A decision made by the marina management committee in 2017 saw Poseidon – a joint venture in which Aristo Developers is a major stakeholder – lose out to Pafilia developers after the body found that evidence supplied to secure financing for the multi-million euro project was ‘not satisfactory’.
The recourse brought by Poseidon consortium argued that the committee’s move to dismiss their tender and move on to request Pafialia – the developer next on the list – to commence negotiations was wrongful.
“This decision affects only the two existing tenders and not the first unsuccessful one,” he said.
In 2008 the tender was initially awarded to the Cybarco-Pandora consortium, which includes the Leptos Group.
However, the other two bidding consortiums, Pafilia and Poseidon challenged the award at various stages. The project was then frozen after litigation began in 2008.
In December 2015, the Supreme Court voted in favour of Poseidon but they still had to submit proof of funds.
Poseidon’s €215 million marina bid was rejected in April 2017 as the committee decided that they were unable to meet the financial criteria, this meant that tender runner up Pafilia, utilising a different design at a cost of around €175 million, could submit their paperwork.
But in December last year, recourse brought by the consortium argued that the committee’s move to dismiss their tender and move on to request Pafialia to commence negotiations was wrongful.
“The new committee is currently appraising the submission of the Poseidon joint venture to see if it meets the criteria, if not, then they will examine the tender of Pafilia,” Demetriades said.
If no-one meets the tender requirements, he added, then the tender will be updated and a new international tender issued.
Community leader of Kissonerga George Stylianou said all data should be thoroughly checked to avoid any further delays or ‘mishaps’ to the process, which has been ongoing for almost 12 years. The new marina will provide a substantial income for the community, he said.
