North Cyprus signs agreement with THY and AJet to cap air ticket prices

The government of northern Cyprus on Monday announced that an agreement has been struck with both Turkish Airlines and subsidiary AJet to cap air ticket prices to and from north Cyprus and to increase the frequency of flights to and from Ercan airport.

The protocol will see AJet operate flights between north Cyprus and “major cities in Turkey” with tickets costing no more than 6,000TL (€128.16), while a round-trip ticket from London’s Stansted airport to north Cyprus will soon cost €250.

The deal was signed at a ceremony at TRNC president Ersin Tatar’s official residence, with Tatar describing Monday as a “historic day” and one which will make north Cyprus’s tourism product more competitive.

The TRNC’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, meanwhile, described the agreement as an “important step”.

Later on Monday, ruling coalition party UBP ‘MP’ Ahmet Savasan said that as part of the deal, a total of 60 young Turkish Cypriots will be hired as cabinet crew by AJet, while two AJet aircraft will now bear a motif which reads “Ada Kibris” – “island Cyprus” in Turkish – with the aim of promoting tourism to north Cyprus.

At present, Ercan airport only serves flights to Turkey, with a previous custom of flights between the UK and north Cyprus briefly touching down in Turkey before continuing on to their final destination having been abolished by the UK government in 2017.

The UK government at the time cited security fears in light of the failed coup d’état which was staged in Turkey the previous year.

Ercan airport

Tatar and Ustel had both on Monday expressed hope that in the future, direct flights to north Cyprus may become a possibility, and last month, a bill had been tabled in the United Kingdom’s parliament with the aim of allowing direct flights between the country and north Cyprus.

The bill, an “early day motion”, was tabled by Sammy Wilson of the DUP, a Northern Irish conservative and pro-British unionist political party, and was signed by fellow DUP MP Jim Shannon.

It had been signed by Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, the country’s shadow parliamentary undersecretary for foreign affairs – one of the most powerful voices in the opposition on the matter of foreign affairs, but Rosindell’s signature was subsequently withdrawn.

The bill states that “this house calls on the government to allow direct flights from the United Kingdom to Ercan international airport in Northern Cyprus”.

It adds that it “notes the ongoing hardship caused by current travel restrictions to over 300,000 Turkish Cypriots in the UK and thousands of British nationals in Northern Cyprus”, and that “Ercan airport meets international aviation security standards”.

Facilitating direct flights between the UK and the north, the bill states, would “promote fairness, ease family travel, and strengthen the UK’s strategic presence in the region”.

Cyprus Mail