Hermes Airports announced that combined traffic at Larnaca and Paphos airports surpassed 13 million passengers on 2 December—an all-time record for Cyprus and a milestone reached a full month earlier than forecast. The network now serves 160 routes operated by 60 airlines to 41 countries, capping three years of post-pandemic recovery that outpaces many southern-European peers.
The operator says the achievement underlines its strategy to shift from purely leisure traffic to year-round connectivity supporting business travel and cargo. Priority city-pairs for extra frequencies include London, Paris and Dubai, alongside new direct links to North American and Asian financial hubs that could boost the island’s fintech and shipping clusters.
![Cyprus airports smash 13-million-passenger mark, signaling new mobility era]()
For global-mobility teams the implications are substantial: greater route diversity reduces detours, flight times and costs for assignees shuttling between head-office locations and Cyprus’ growing expatriate centres in Limassol and Nicosia. The record also strengthens Nicosia’s argument that its infrastructure meets the technical criteria for eventual Schengen-area accession.
Looking ahead, Hermes plans to roll out more self-service kiosks and biometric e-gates—a move that could cut border-processing times and pave the way for trusted-traveller programmes. Risk managers, however, warn that peak-season crowding may worsen until terminal expansion projects, now in design, break ground.
The operator says the achievement underlines its strategy to shift from purely leisure traffic to year-round connectivity supporting business travel and cargo. Priority city-pairs for extra frequencies include London, Paris and Dubai, alongside new direct links to North American and Asian financial hubs that could boost the island’s fintech and shipping clusters.
For global-mobility teams the implications are substantial: greater route diversity reduces detours, flight times and costs for assignees shuttling between head-office locations and Cyprus’ growing expatriate centres in Limassol and Nicosia. The record also strengthens Nicosia’s argument that its infrastructure meets the technical criteria for eventual Schengen-area accession.
Looking ahead, Hermes plans to roll out more self-service kiosks and biometric e-gates—a move that could cut border-processing times and pave the way for trusted-traveller programmes. Risk managers, however, warn that peak-season crowding may worsen until terminal expansion projects, now in design, break ground.
