Ercan airport sees 17.8% drop in arrivals

There has been a 17.8%  drop in arrivals at Ercan airport in the north in the period of January to October 2018, Kibris newspaper has reported. 

It said this was due to costlier airline tickets which have led Turkish Cypriot permanent residents of the UK to opt to travel to Cyprus through Larnaca and Paphos airports.

It said that in the first 10 months of 2017, 21,623 UK Turkish Cypriot visited the north through Ercan, while for the same period in 2018 the number was down to 17,792.

UK Turkish Cypriots who crossed into the north through the checkpoints rose from 40,155 (January to October 2017) to 41,874 (January to October 2018).

It said that UK Turkish Cypriots were using Larnaca and Paphos airports because fares are cheaper and flights are direct.

The same report said that there was a 44.5% increase in the number of Greek Cypriots visiting the north. In the first 10 months of 2018, 1,299,981Greek Cypriots visited compared to 899,628 in the same period the previous year.

SOURCECNA