North airport passenger numbers up by almost a third

Passenger numbers at the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport increased by almost a third for the first six months of 2024 over the same period last year, data released on Tuesday showed.

In total, 2,181,947 passengers passed through the airport during the first six months of the year, compared to 1,704,481 during the first six months of 2023 – an increase of 28 per cent.

In terms of the number of aircraft taking off from and landing at the airport, a total of 14,069 aircraft were counted during the first six months of the year, up from 11,980 over the same period last year – an increase of just shy of 17.5 per cent.

The increase was fuelled by stark increases during months which historically saw fewer flights and passengers, with a 57 per cent increase in passenger numbers seen during February, and every month aside from January seeing between 300,000 and 400,000 passengers pass through the airport.

This has been aided by the new terminal, which was opened in July last year and is the largest airport terminal on the island, and the new runway, which is 3,000 metres long.

The runway’s length allows for larger aircraft to take off from and land at the airport, thus increasing the number of passengers passing through.