Hermes Airports has confirmed that 26 December—Boxing Day—was the busiest schedule in Cypriot aviation history, with Larnaca handling 65 arrivals and 38 departures and Paphos processing 27 further commercial movements. The Boxing-Day spike caps a year in which Larnaca welcomed 9.37 million travellers and Paphos 3.64 million during January-November, already eclipsing full-year 2024 totals.
Multiple factors powered the growth. Airlines have diverted capacity from war-affected Israeli corridors to the island, and government winter-charter incentives—rebates covering up to 60 % of landing fees—have lured carriers to keep aircraft flying outside the summer peak. Capacity now sits 12 % above 2019 levels, with Polish, German and Scandinavian tour operators adding weekend sun-seeker rotations.
![Boxing-Day Surge Pushes Cyprus Airports to All-Time Passenger Record]()
Travellers caught in the surge should also keep entry requirements front of mind. VisaHQ’s Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) streamlines tourist, business and transit visa applications, delivers up-to-date border-rule alerts and offers courier options for passports—an especially useful service for corporate travel departments facing squeezed seat availability into Larnaca and Paphos.
Operational resilience was tested. Larnaca’s new 500-space car-park extension opened ahead of schedule, while immigration police operated all booths and trialled e-gates paired with a queue-management app that alerts passengers when Schengen and UK flights land simultaneously. Average kerb-to-airside times remained below the 30-minute service pledge despite the crowds.
For mobility managers the record day has two implications: scarce seat capacity over the 2026 festive period will require earlier corporate block bookings, and ground-handling bottlenecks could worsen unless infrastructure keeps pace. Hermes’ master-plan currently foresees only a modest four-gate expansion at Larnaca by 2027—one reason companies may consider alternative routings via Athens or, controversially, Turkish-controlled Tymbou (Ercan) in the north.
Multiple factors powered the growth. Airlines have diverted capacity from war-affected Israeli corridors to the island, and government winter-charter incentives—rebates covering up to 60 % of landing fees—have lured carriers to keep aircraft flying outside the summer peak. Capacity now sits 12 % above 2019 levels, with Polish, German and Scandinavian tour operators adding weekend sun-seeker rotations.
Travellers caught in the surge should also keep entry requirements front of mind. VisaHQ’s Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) streamlines tourist, business and transit visa applications, delivers up-to-date border-rule alerts and offers courier options for passports—an especially useful service for corporate travel departments facing squeezed seat availability into Larnaca and Paphos.
Operational resilience was tested. Larnaca’s new 500-space car-park extension opened ahead of schedule, while immigration police operated all booths and trialled e-gates paired with a queue-management app that alerts passengers when Schengen and UK flights land simultaneously. Average kerb-to-airside times remained below the 30-minute service pledge despite the crowds.
For mobility managers the record day has two implications: scarce seat capacity over the 2026 festive period will require earlier corporate block bookings, and ground-handling bottlenecks could worsen unless infrastructure keeps pace. Hermes’ master-plan currently foresees only a modest four-gate expansion at Larnaca by 2027—one reason companies may consider alternative routings via Athens or, controversially, Turkish-controlled Tymbou (Ercan) in the north.
