Cyprus Airways commences direct flights from Larnaca to Dubai

Cyprus Airways has commenced thrice-weekly direct flights between Larnaca and Dubai.

The services to Dubai International’s (DXB) Terminal 1 are operated using its 180-seat capacity Airbus A320 aircraft.

In a statement by Dubai Airports, it added that the flights are “expected to generate multiple connectivity options with the Middle East, Far East and other global destinations while boosting tourism and business on both sides.”

In 2022, Cyprus Airways reported a significant growth in its annual traffic. The airline reportedly more than doubled its flights and operated 2,552 scheduled services compared to 1,032 flights in the previous year. Additionally, 94,289 passengers were carried on its charter services.

This summer, Cyprus Airways is expected to commence operations to destinations including Milan, Zurich, Prague, Basel and Cairo.

The airline previously revealed plans to operate daily services to Beirut and increase its frequency to Tel Aviv by up to 10 flights each week to the Israeli destination.

Cyprus Airways has indicated that it will widen its route network to 30 destinations by 2026.

This year, it will also reportedly double its 2022 fleet of two aircraft to four A320-200s. It will increase that fleet to six aircraft in 2024, nine in 2025, and up to 11 by 2026.

Cyprus Airways decision to connect Larnaca to Dubai, comes as other international carriers are also announcing new services to DXB. Sri Lankan carrier FitsAir recently ramped up its services from Colombo to Dubai. Starting March 26, it upgraded its four-times weekly operation to DXB to a daily service.

US carrier United Airlines also recently launched a new nonstop daily service between its New York/Newark hub and DXB.

At present, DXB is connected to 230 destinations across more than 95 countries via over 85 international airlines.

DXB also retained its position as the world’s busiest international airport for the ninth consecutive year, according to the Airports Council International (ACI) World. The number of passengers who used the DXB airport in 2022 stood at 66,069,981, representing a 127 per cent year-on-year growth.

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East