Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CAN), Permanent Secretary Alecos Michaelides confirmed that the requests had been put forward to the Civil Aviation and that they were under review. “The Civil Aviation Department is now reviewing three applications for an air operator’s certificate submitted by Cypriot companies.”

Should an AOC be issued, then the next step for the candidate airlines is to submit a new request to the ministry for an Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) which also happens to be chaired by Michaelides.

Meanwhile, the necessary permits have already been handed to Tus Airways – a small-scale airline company that has been launched by the former pilots of defunct Cyprus Airways – and that air operations are expected to get underway in the middle of next month.

The new company, which has set up headquarters in Larnaca, will start off with short flights to neighbouring countries and is the first local airliner to be established on the island since the collapse of national carrier Cyprus Airways.

Tus Airways’ fleet consists of two small planes – a Saab 340 and a Saab 2000. Both aircraft are twin-engine high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish company Saab. The airline will start with short flights to neighbouring countries like Greece, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon.

Another airline – Australian-backed Cobalt Air – is also expected to begin operations this year.

Speaking to Phileleftheros in an interview last year, Cobalt CEO Andrew Pyne said the airline company would be “low cost but with a difference” adding that they “we will be devoted to creativity and innovation, instead of just offering a variation of what Ryanair and Wizz are offering.”

He also said that the airline would offer many new destinations for people in Cyprus.

Source: InCyprus