Cyprus Airways has decided to reduce the number of Airbus A220s it was planning to acquire over the course of the decade, but still sees the aircraft as a valuable component of its fleet, according to chairman and CEO Tasos Michael.
The Mediterranean carrier has two A220-300s in its inventory, with two further examples scheduled to arrive from lessors in summer 2024 and another two from early 2025. The airline also has a pair of A320ceos.
There were originally plans to buy another six A220s direct from Airbus, but this has now been scrapped.
The well-known problems with the Pratt & Whitney GTF powerplants have been causing Cyprus Airways problems, Michael said and this has led to some rethinking of the airline’s strategy.
“If it hadn’t been for Pratt & Whitney, we would have been profitable this year. All aircraft have teething problems, but in a small airline you need to manage within your means and we may take more A320s until the A220s have a final fix, which will be in 2027.”
This may disappoint the carrier’s passengers, who “rave” about the A220 and “actually complain when they don’t fly on one,” Michael said.
Cyprus’s first two 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.”
The next pair will be delivered in an all-economy 140-seat configuration, although still with a generous seat pitch, Michael said. The A220 “is right-sized for the winter [season] for us. It’s difficult for us to fill an A320 or A321 in winter.”
As the fleet gradually grows, the intention is to increase frequencies on routes, ideally at least a daily rotation to its main destinations.
Like most airlines, Cyprus Airways faces a certain amount of competition from LCCs, but “The plan has always been to operate as a full-service carrier.
The customers on an LCC may not be the customers we’re trying to attract. Our customers tend to value additional comfort. They don’t want to argue about the weight of a carry-on bag or have their knees jammed into the back of the seat in front of them.”
The route network is focused around mainland Greece and its islands, as well as several western European cities, but eastern Mediterranean and Gulf destinations such as Beirut, Tel Aviv and Dubai also feature.
Michael would like the airline to focus more on its immediate region rather than western Europe. “There’s big trade from Lebanon and 40,000 Israelis live in Cyprus. People tend to flock to the island whenever there’s conflict in the region.”
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