The flights, which began on April 17, will increase tourist flow from Central Europe, Hermes Airport said.

“We are very glad to offer scheduled services four days a week between Larnaca and Amsterdam. It is a pleasure to welcome Cypriot people on board and offer passengers an attractive price. We believe very strongly in this route which we want to retain and grow further in the future,” Transavia vice president of sales Hester Bruijninckx said.

The low cost Dutch operator, a member of the Air France-KLM Group, operates a direct flight from Larnaca every Tuesday and Friday and a flight via Paphos every Thursday and Sunday.

“The Netherlands is one of the developing markets in which we can see important opportunities and development prospects,” Hermes CEO Wes Porter said.

During the welcoming event at Larnaca airport on Tuesday, Porter, the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Cyprus Brechje Schwachöfe and the Country Manager of Air France-KLM Group to Cyprus cut a cake marking the official welcoming of the airline to Cyprus.

“The improvement of air connectivity between Cyprus and the Netherlands contributes to the further strengthening of relations between the two countries and benefits the business communities as well as the people of both countries,” Schwachöfe said.

This agreement follows a package of six incentives aimed to attract more airlines to the island signed between Hermes Airport and the ministry of communications in March. The three-year agreement for both Larnaca and Paphos airports includes developing new (single) routes, development of winter traffic, discounts on landing fees at Cypriot airports, development through a Growth Bonus Plan on a net traffic growth for existing routes, and marketing support for the promotion of Cyprus by the airlines.

Last month, Germania Airlines began to offer flights from Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Erfut to Paphos and from Munich to Larnaca. It is estimated that about 100 additional jobs are created for each additional flight arriving at Cyprus’ airports, according to Hermes.

Source: Cyprus Mail