Cyprus is bracing for significant travel disruption on Thursday, 12 February, after the country’s largest trade-union confederations called a three-hour nationwide strike from 11:00 to 14:00.
Hermes Airports, operator of both Larnaca (LCA) and Paphos (PFO), warned late Wednesday that at least 54 scheduled movements will be cancelled or retimed, affecting an estimated 15,000 passengers. Confirmed cancellations already include Jazeera Airways’ Kuwait-Larnaca rotation (JZR 345/346), Qatar Airways’ Doha services (QTR 265/266) and Emirates flight UAE 109 from Dubai, which was to continue onwards to Malta. Dozens of European leisure, visiting-friends-and-relatives (VFR) and cargo flights are expected to depart outside their original slot windows.
Travellers scrambling to adjust itineraries may also confront unexpected visa or travel-document hurdles. VisaHQ’s Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) offers rapid online processing, real-time status updates and expert support, helping passengers secure or extend visas at short notice and avoid complications as flight plans shift.
![Cyprus General Strike to Disrupt More Than 50 Flights at Larnaca & Paphos]()
Ground-handling companies have drafted in additional staff to clear the backlog once the stoppage ends, but travel-management companies are advising clients to anticipate knock-on delays for the rest of the day. Business travellers with tight onward connections in Europe or the Gulf are being told to rebook for the evening bank of flights or to reroute via Athens or Istanbul.
The industrial action—part of a wider protest over cost-of-living pressures and stalled collective-bargaining negotiations—also threatens to snarl up cargo flows just as Cypriot exporters ship peak-season citrus and pharmaceutical consignments. Time-critical goods may need to be trucked to Greek ports for onward sea-air uplift, raising logistics costs by up to 20 percent.
For global mobility and corporate travel managers, the strike underscores the importance of dynamic itinerary monitoring and contingency planning for key Mediterranean gateways. Companies with expatriate staff on rotation cycles this week should prepare for extended layovers, accommodation re-arrangements and possible immigration overstays if Schengen transit visas expire before rebooked departures.
Hermes Airports, operator of both Larnaca (LCA) and Paphos (PFO), warned late Wednesday that at least 54 scheduled movements will be cancelled or retimed, affecting an estimated 15,000 passengers. Confirmed cancellations already include Jazeera Airways’ Kuwait-Larnaca rotation (JZR 345/346), Qatar Airways’ Doha services (QTR 265/266) and Emirates flight UAE 109 from Dubai, which was to continue onwards to Malta. Dozens of European leisure, visiting-friends-and-relatives (VFR) and cargo flights are expected to depart outside their original slot windows.
Travellers scrambling to adjust itineraries may also confront unexpected visa or travel-document hurdles. VisaHQ’s Cyprus portal (https://www.visahq.com/cyprus/) offers rapid online processing, real-time status updates and expert support, helping passengers secure or extend visas at short notice and avoid complications as flight plans shift.
Ground-handling companies have drafted in additional staff to clear the backlog once the stoppage ends, but travel-management companies are advising clients to anticipate knock-on delays for the rest of the day. Business travellers with tight onward connections in Europe or the Gulf are being told to rebook for the evening bank of flights or to reroute via Athens or Istanbul.
The industrial action—part of a wider protest over cost-of-living pressures and stalled collective-bargaining negotiations—also threatens to snarl up cargo flows just as Cypriot exporters ship peak-season citrus and pharmaceutical consignments. Time-critical goods may need to be trucked to Greek ports for onward sea-air uplift, raising logistics costs by up to 20 percent.
For global mobility and corporate travel managers, the strike underscores the importance of dynamic itinerary monitoring and contingency planning for key Mediterranean gateways. Companies with expatriate staff on rotation cycles this week should prepare for extended layovers, accommodation re-arrangements and possible immigration overstays if Schengen transit visas expire before rebooked departures.
