We will consider at a political level the decision of Turkey not to ban flights on Russian aircraft and will assess whether we will change our decision to close the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus, said today the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Mr. Giannis Karousos. invited to a press conference to answer a question whether the Republic will activate the reservation expressed in the Council of Foreign Affairs to reconsider the decision to close its airspace.
At the same time, both the Minister of Transport and the Deputy Minister of Tourism stressed that we must not forget that there is currently a war in Ukraine and this affects not only flights but also the Russian economy itself.
As Mr. Karousos characteristically stated, "first of all, let's say that we have a war in Ukraine and no matter what happens, the Russian economy has been affected so negatively that even if there was no flight ban, we would not have tourists. that we expected. The measures and sanctions are so difficult and harsh that we see that they have affected the Russian economy.
We have 1,6 million passengers that we expected to come from these markets. When the issue was raised in the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the issue was discussed, we managed to record the specific reservation that we reserve the right to reconsider or change our position if Turkey does not implement it or if it tries to instrumentalize the issue with the occupied. We have heard the statements from Turkey, it is something that we will discuss with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Republic himself in order to make decisions. At the moment, our decision is valid, the one that was decided in the Council, but I emphasize that we are the only country that had a reservation, which was recorded and which, as far as I have been informed, was excluded by legal means in order to secure this reservation. . The rest is a matter of foreign policy and the President of the Republic, which we will see depending on the developments.
But I reiterate that we have a war and a country that is involved in a war, with the sanctions that exist, to take for granted in planning all and in the Government and the bodies that directly or indirectly deal with aviation or tourism, that we will not have tourists from the countries concerned, whether or not there is a ban on flights ".
Continuing, the Minister of Transport pointed out that the focus is now on actions that will attract new markets, in an effort to fill as much as possible the gap that will be created by the Russian and Ukrainian markets. "We have excellent cooperation with the Airport Manager, we also have the experience from the coronavirus that we proved in the crisis that with a proper, methodical and collective effort and cooperation, we can have results," he said.
"You do not see the result of TUS today due to the situation in Ukraine. It's the result of the work of the last year essentially. We push companies, we make teleconferences with companies, we prove with statistics that there is interest and a route can be profitable. As we heard today, in Brussels, at the main airport, there will be a flight at a convenient time for citizens interested in traveling. "The fact that there was no route to Brussels, we were close to subsidizing it with several millions and the fact that TUS includes this route in its planning, saves us a lot of money which we will use elsewhere", the Minister explained.
Also referring to the connectivity with Saudi Arabia, Mr. Karousos noted that it was a market, which the Ministry of Tourism had included in its strategy and after visits and contacts of the Deputy Minister, air connectivity was achieved. "When we have connectivity the rest will follow whether it is tourism or business or whatever. In 2021 we had more destinations than in 2019, which was better in terms of passenger traffic and we will continue because it is time to leave some over-dependencies that we have from some markets. It is an opportunity in the midst of a crisis, a window. There is interest from other airlines as well. "Politically we will do what we have to do to protect the country's economy and you will see other positive news on the issue of air connectivity", underlined the Minister of Transport.
Answering the same question, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Savvas Perdios, reiterated that we must be very restrained regarding the Russian-speaking markets, given that at the moment there is a war that no one knows when it will end or when we will be able to reopen the airwaves. "For the Russian market, no one knows when we will open them when they will allow us to be on both sides." He added that in any case, we should not underestimate the blow suffered by the Russian economy due to the sanctions imposed. "Where the ruble arrived, and the flights were open, I very much doubt whether we could have tourism from this market or at least in these numbers that we used to have," said Mr. Perdios.
This, he continued, is a very serious issue and everyone involved in the tourism and aviation sector must "work on a scenario in which arrivals from these markets will be minimal to non-existent." He expressed the hope that in the course of time there will be an improvement of the situation, emphasizing, however, that "we have an obligation to ourselves and the tourism operators to think of the manipulated scenario from these two markets, so that we can make the necessary moves in time. we do to make up for what is made up ". We must, said Mr. Perdios, keep in mind that the situation may not improve soon.
Speaking about the opening of Cyprus to new markets, the Deputy Minister of Tourism pointed out that the connection of our country with markets such as Saudi Arabia and France is a result of targeted actions that preceded. "As for France, I have said it many times, it is a market that we did not have in Cyprus. For me it is by far the best market in the European Union, not only in terms of spending, but because the French are quality as people - they understand from culture, from food, from wine, from nature. So it is a clientele that will particularly appreciate Cyprus. It is the number one market in which the State Department does marketing. It may sound strange that we are marketing in a country that has no connectivity. But which comes first, the hen or the egg? Will an airline come to risk flying flights for us, when we have not created demand in that market for Cyprus through marketing? And there, one brings the other ", said, finally, Mr. Perdios.