Great news for Paphos visitors and residents in that Ryanair is finally flying direct to Paphos. Not only that but they will base 2 aircraft there and fly to and from 14 destinations across Europe. Ryanair now fly direct to Paphos from London Stansted, Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), Frankfurt Hahn and Memmingen (Germany), Patras and Thessaloniki (Greece), Kaunas (Lithuania), Rome, Milan, Pisa and Treviso (Italy), Chania (Crete) and Krakow (Poland). Ryanair has four routes from Larnaca airport: Brussels, Barcelona, Dusseldorf and Bologna.

Ryanair say this will be able to handle 600,000 passengers annually and sustain over 600 jobs with over 80 weekly flights as Ryanair invests over $140 million at Paphos Airport.

Michael Cawley, Deputy Chief of Ryanair said “This is a watershed, a turning point in aviation and tourism for Cyprus and that the airport was an attractive proposition as it allowed for a 25-minute turnaround.''

Cyprus Toursim Organisation Chiefs have welcomed the move and feel it is a significant step in opening the doors of Cyprus to new markets and encourage other low cost airlines to follow suit. New incentives came into force at the end of December, following an agreement signed by the government and Hermes Airports. They include a reduction in landing fees in a bid to bring in extra visitors and increase revenue by €400 million, as well as incentives for airlines that pledge to use the island’s airports for at least five years.

Under the plan, airport charges will be reduced by €25 per passenger for airlines who bring in 250,000 or more visitors a year, with the cost of the reduction being borne by Hermes to the tune of 64.48 per cent and the government by 35.52 per cent.

The Villa Group looks forward to welcoming new visitors and looks forward to communicating with them about their desires for villas in the Paphos district.