The Government of the island nation intends to make Cyprus a major international hub.
To achieve this goal, a scheme to encourage the opening of headquarters for foreign airlines in Cyprus was recently approved.
According to the scheme, aircraft registered in Cyprus will be exempt from stamp duties. Transactions related to the purchase or sale of aircraft registered in the Cyprus Aircraft Registry will also be exempt from fees. The exemption from stamp duties will also apply to aircraft lease agreements.
It is worth noting that the bill was introduced to the Parliament by the Chairman of the House of Representatives' Finance Committee, DIKO MP Christiana Erotokritou, who emphasized that similar rules are already applied to aircraft flying under the Cypriot flag.
Erotokritou noted that the new rules are expected to contribute to the development of the transport sector in Cyprus, attract new airlines to the island, and, consequently, attract new investments.
In turn, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades stated that the government will do everything possible to attract as many international airlines to the island as possible and make local airports as convenient as possible for connecting flights.
He said that the authorities are working on introducing schedules for key routes that do not have direct flights to Cyprus, such as Brussels.
As a reminder, in October 2022, the Cyprus government approved a plan to stimulate airlines for 2023-2027, allocating 165 million euros to implement the scheme. The program envisages increasing passenger traffic to 13.7 million people per year.
This project is co-financed by the Ministry of Transport and the airport operator Hermes Airports Ltd. The scheme is a continuation of Cyprus's decade-long efforts to increase connecting flights to the island.
It should be mentioned that thanks to the efforts of the Cyprus government, 113 new routes have been opened on the island in recent years, and passenger traffic has increased from 7.3 million people in 2011 to 11.3 million people in 2019. This has brought the state an additional income of 67 million euros.
The first half of 2023 ended on a positive note: 4,808,432 passengers were registered at the airports of Cyprus, which is 3% more compared to pre-pandemic figures in 2019.
During this period, Larnaca Airport served 3,252,612 passengers, and Paphos Airport served 1,555,820 passengers.
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