Persistent problems with the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engines on the Airbus A220 are forcing Cyprus Airways to rethink its strategies, the airline’s chairman and CEO said.
The carrier currently has two A320ceos plus two A220-300s, with two more leased A220s arriving over the summer and a further two scheduled for 2025.
However, plans to buy a further six A220s direct from Airbus from 2027 onward have been canceled, Tasos Michael told Aviation Week on the sidelines of the London Aviation Symposium June 28.
“If it hadn’t been for Pratt & Whitney, we would have been profitable this year,” Michael said. Given the ongoing technical glitches with the Pratt powerplants, “We’re rethinking a lot of our strategies. All aircraft have teething problems, but in a small airline, you need manage within your means and we may take more A320s until the A220s have a final fix, which will be in 2027.”
Any incoming A320s will be leased. This will come as a disappointment to some of Cyprus Airways’ passengers, who complain if they find themselves on an A320 rather than an A220, the CEO said.
The first pair of the carrier’s A220s have a two-class, 128-seat layout, with “proper business-class seats with 60-in. pitch, not the blocked-off central [standard economy] seat that you tend to get in Europe.” However, the next pair will be delivered in an all-economy 140-seat configuration, although still with a generous seat pitch, Michael said.
Cyprus Airways sees itself as a full-service carrier, but recently has had to unbundle certain aspects of its fares to compete with LCCs. This is because the lower prices advertised by LCCs tend to come at the top of lists on comparison sites, despite that after ancillaries are added to the basic prices, the fares are close to those of Cyprus Airways.
The airline operates to major Western European cities, but its routes to Israel, Lebanon and Dubai are also popular, the CEO said. “Dubai is one of our best routes. When it’s 50C in Dubai, it’s 36-38C in Cyprus, so people come here in summer to get some respite from the extreme heat.”
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