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Airlines jumped back into the ongoing row with Hermes yesterday after the airport operator again refuted allegations that passenger charges were excessively high.
Following the publication of an advertisement by Hermes in the media yesterday to clarify their position, the International Air Carriers Association (IACA) said the figures that they had quoted had been cited by Hermes chairman Nicos Shacolas last month at a House Committee.
“The comparisons made by IACA to other Mediterranean airports, including Greece, are warranted, given that these airports are the most similar in terms of passenger travel patterns and in type of destination to Larnaca and Paphos,” the IACA statement said.
The first set of the controversial new charges came into effect on April 1, and amounted to an increase of 47 per cent. By November charges per passenger will have risen 77 per cent, according to IACA. “The results show clearly that with the new charges, Cyprus will be between 30 and 110 per cent more expensive than other Mediterranean leisure-based airports.” Hermes said that if the IACA really believed what they were saying, it was based on “wrong information” leading to “completely wrong conclusions and actions”.
It disputed all of the figures cited by the IACA, calling them “absolutely untrue, exaggerated and inaccurate”. The airport operator said the total charge would be £18.84 per passenger by November and included arrival and departure.
The IACA, however, said that irrespective of the exact figures involved, the increases in airport charges were unduly high and passengers should not be forced to pre-finance improvements in airport infrastructure.
“Along with the (33 per cent) excessive government concession fee, long-term tourism will be severely affected in Cyprus by these increases in costs,” the Association said.
“We continue to call for a constructive dialogue with both the Cypriot government and Hermes Airports Ltd in order to resolve these problems in a transparent and open way.”
Hermes, which expects to have new airports up and running in Paphos in 2008 and in Larnaca in 2009, has repeatedly said there was no way it could operate the current airports without improvements, which meant increasing fees. The new fees were “reasonable and justified” it said.
The operator is expected to complete the upgrade at Larnaca airport by the end of next month or in early June. It includes revamped duty free shops, more restaurants and shops, new toilets and new baggage equipment and parking facilities. | 
