New airports by 2009 at Larnaca and Paphos ‘Temporary’ solutions will ease congestion at present sites, reports Luke Moore
A 500 million Euro construction project to bring Cyprus ’ airports into the 21st century is due to begin later in 2006. With project completion dates in 2008 for Paphos and 2009 for Lanarca, new measures will be introduced at the existing airports to help manage the massive amount of tourists that visit the island over the next three years.
The first of several planned upgrades was the opening of a larger arrivals hall and luggage claim area at Larnaca earlier this week, and an increase in the number of parking spaces to a total of 710 has also been completed.
Future renovations are expected to include the acquisition of two new passenger buses, four runway stair units and twenty luggage trolleys. A Cypriot government estimate values the total renovations to Larnaca and Paphos at 5 million Euros. The Communications and Works Minister, Haris Thrasou, said that the work being done is simply ‘temporary’ to minimise problems when several planes arrive at the same time.
The contract to develop the new airports was awarded to the Hermes Consortium for 500million Euros, making this the biggest construction contract that the state has ever entered into.
The new airport at Larnaca will cover an area of 95,000 metres with an annual capacity of 7.5 million passengers. This will increase by a fifth over time. The smaller Paphos airport will cover 18,000 square metres with a capacity around a third of Larnaca.
InvestinCyprus.com
