Larnaka Airport Aims To Serve High Traffic Demand Across Europe And Beyond
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Larnaka International Airport (LCA) in Cyprus, operated by Hermes Airports, handled 8.7 million passengers in 2024, a 6% increase compared to the previous year and an all-time annual record for the airport. The upward trend is expected to continue during 2025, as the airport has already recorded a double-digit growth, 11.6%, during the first six months of the year.
The airport is constantly expanding its route network with several new services and increased capacity. This summer, Saudia Airlines launched a 3X-weekly direct flight to Riyadh, enhancing Middle Eastern connectivity, while AEGEAN added a 3X-weekly route to Rome Fiumicino, extending its reach beyond Greece. Transavia introduced a new link to Lyon, and Cyprus Airways added seasonal routes to Venice and Sibiu. Meanwhile, Wizz Air, British Airways, easyJet, Sky Express, Sunclass, and others boosted capacity to key destinations like London, Warsaw, Bucharest, Thessaloniki, and Milan. SkyUp Airlines also returned, connecting LCA with five Eastern European cities including Chișinău and Katowice.
A key focus for Hermes Airports is to establish sustainable, year-round connectivity. Cyprus is gaining momentum as a leading year-round destination, with the island’s popularity rising during the winter months — a trend clearly reflected in the passenger traffic of winter 2024–2025, which recorded a 13% increase compared to the same period in 2023–2024. While the winter season now accounts for 25% of total traffic, a notable improvement in recent years, there is still significant room for growth.
In collaboration with airlines a total of 15% additional seats has been added for the 2024/2025 winter season vs the previous winter season, to meet the growing demand for the destination. This positive development is set to continue, with additional seat capacity expected to be introduced for the upcoming winter period.
Looking ahead to winter, Wizz Air is further strengthening its presence at LCA by launching new routes and increasing capacity on its existing ones. As from October this year it will connect Larnaka with Barcelona, Tirana, Timisoara and Suceava whereas it will also introduce operation to Chisinau.
With the infrastructure and demand to handle passenger growth, LCA has uploaded multiple route opportunities to its Routes 360 profile to close air connectivity gaps.
Opportunities include:
Spain: Spain is one of the few markets in Europe with limited direct operation from Cyprus, despite the significant indirect demand estimated to 53,000 passengers traveling between Cyprus and Spain with an intermediate stop. Larnaka-Madrid and Larnaka-Barcelona are leading this demand, whereas Madrid is the most popular unserved destination in number of searches from both ends with respect to the future demand. There is demand from both ends for both leisure and VFR purposes, whereas a direct operation would help to stimulate the total traffic significantly. The majority are first time visitors with an average 7-8 days of stay in Cyprus.
Germany: The German market is amongst the top five markets for Cyprus, with significant increase during the last few years. The market consists of primarily inbound travellers, visiting the island for leisure, whereas there is year-round demand, with peaks during the summer period and during the shoulder months. More than half of the direct traffic concern ages between 26-45, with an average stay of 8 to 10 days in Cyprus. Other than sun and sea, people are visiting Cyprus for history and culture, city tours, entertainment and others, while the preferred accommodation is 4-5* hotels. Currently there are 140k total passengers traveling to/from several German airports with one intermediate stop. The growth could be associated with increase of frequencies on served destinations, such as Berlin, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hannover, as well as the introduction of new routes such as Dresden, Leipzig, Bremen and Nuremberg.
Ireland: Currently there is direct service only out of Pafos, with 75% of the traffic being inbound. The majority visit Cyprus for leisure and stay in Cyprus on average for 8 days, while during their stay they are interested in sun and sea as well as history and culture and wellness. Larnaka-Dublin has 15,000 passengers traveling to/from Cyprus with an intermediate stop. A direct operation from the country is expected to stimulate the demand significantly and will be driven by inbound leisure visitors.
Belgium: There is direct service from Paphos to Brussels Charleroi, while there is significant potential for development of direct connectivity between Larnaka and Brussels on a year-round basis. This is supported from the 33,000 passengers connecting via other airports, with Larnaka-Brussels the most popular route in terms of indirect demand. While two thirds of the direct traffic concerns inbound demand, traveling to Cyprus for leisure, there is significant traffic traveling outbound from Cyprus, traveling for leisure, business and visiting friends and relatives. Both inbound and outbound traffic stay duration is around 7 to 8 days. The demand is expected to grow in the upcoming months with the assumption of the European Union presidency by Cyprus during the first semester of 2026, and the increase of relevant traffic.
Portugal: The demand between Cyprus and Portugal has been growing during the last few years, with currently more than 20,000 total passengers connecting with one stop. Lisbon and Porto are the two most popular destinations. Direct flights from Portugal would serve both leisure and VFR traffic from both sides, whereas the country’s location could attract feeding traffic from/to Latin America. Lisbon-Larnaka is amongst the top routes in searches regarding future demand.
Italy: Italy is one of the markets with the highest growth during the last years, with most of the routes being in a radius 2.5-3.5-hour flight time from/to Larnaka. More than 100,000 total passengers travelled with one intermediary stop during the year with Rome and Milan positioned high on the list, followed by Venice, Bologna and Naples. Italy is one of the preferred markets for the Cypriot residents traveling for leisure, especially during the winter months, with short stay of 5 days. Still there is scope for developing the inbound traffic, as the Italians are interested in sun and sea and history and culture, whereas their preferred accommodation is 1-3* and 5* hotels. Overall, the traffic from both ends is dominated by younger ages.
Delhi: Direct connectivity with India is a high priority for Cyprus, as the traffic between the two countries has evolved over the last few years and there has been development of the collaboration between the two countries at both political and financial levels. To this extent, a Business and Investment Council has recently been established between Cyprus, India and Greece setting the grounds for further traffic development between Cyprus and India.
A significant number of investments have already been announced which are expected to boost the passenger traffic and number of trips between the two countries. At the same time, the product for incoming leisure visitors can be enhanced through collaboration between Cyprus and neighbouring countries, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon by promoting combined visits to two or more countries in the area. At this point, more than 30,000 total passengers travel between Larnaka and India annually with Delhi-Larnaka being on the top of the list.
Unserved:
Brussels Airport (BRU)
Madrid Airport (MAD)
Tallinn Airport (TLL)
Lisbon Airport (LIS)
Porto Airport (OPO)
GMR Delhi International Airport (DEL)
Dublin Airport (DUB)
Lyon Airport (LYS)
Bologna Airport (BLQ)
Bremen (BRE)
Dresden Airport (DRS)
Zagreb Airport (ZAG)
Underserved
Berlin
Belfast
Oslo
Geneva
Stuttgart
Hamburg
Copenhagen
Helsinki
Hannover
Cologne
Budapest
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