to London Heathrow at the end of this month, providing more competition for cash-strapped local carrier Cyprus Airways.
Aegean will offer daily flights to Heathrow from March 27, and plans to add and increase the frequency of flights from Cyprus to Greek destinations, Aegean's vice chairman Eftyhios Vassilakis said.
"We believe the London market to Cyprus has the potential to grow," Vassilakis told journalists in Nicosia. With an enhancement of connections to Greece, the company is meeting about 55 percent of needs of Cyprus's domestic market, he said.
Three Aegean aircraft will be based on the island, Vassilakis said.
Cyprus Airways and British Airways run daily flights from Larnaca, the island's main air terminal, to London Heathrow. Low cost carriers Monarch and easyJet fly to other London airports.
Cyprus Airways, which is majority state controlled, has been struggling in recent years from an influx of cheaper competitors encroaching on its busiest routes to Greece and Britain.
It recently received a 20 million euro bailout from the state because of a ban on flying through Turkish air space.
by Michele Kambas
Source: Reuters - Balkans.com.
