Title: Take off Country: Cyprus
Duration: 5’15’’
Insert: Producer: Maria A. Georgiadou Director: Maria A. Georgiadou Camera: Costas Charalambous Kyriacos Moniates Stavros Kyriakides George Rachmatoulin Editing: Elena Ioannou Sound: Menelaos Philippides Christos Hamatsos Panicos Demetriou Kyriacos Kyriacou
Music: “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
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Text:
O-Ton: Cyprus Airways spokesman C.A. is the state air carrier of Cyprus, with a fairly long history, a life of 58 years. Our company transports, in conjunction with its subsidiary chartered flights company, EUROCYPRIA, almost ¹/³ of the people traveling between Cyprus and abroad. These numbers… they also reveal the importance of the company to the economy of the island.
O-Ton: Acting Director, CIVIL AVIATION Following our accession to the EU, on 1st May 2004, a full liberalization of flights in Cyprus, with EU countries, came about.
O-Ton: Cyprus Airways spokesman …Almost 150 airlines fly to Cyprus from Europe, mainly, as well as from other countries. As you know, not only in Cyprus and in Europe, but the world over, just a few short decades ago, air transport was being carried out on a wholly different basis. That is to say, which companies would fly was an issue decided by the states amongst themselves. How much they would charge, what the charges would be, was also an issue decided amongst the states through IATA.
O-Ton: Acting Director, CIVIL AVIATION The liberalization of flights gives the right to any air carrier, under certain conditions, to carry out itineraries within the EU.
O-Ton: HELIOS Airways, Commercial Manager Our company started to fly in 2001 and entered the chartered flight market in 2002 with flights to London.
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The great change came about with the accession of Cyprus to Europe in 2004, where our company was, for the first time, able to fly to airports … to which it could not fly before, due to lack of liberalization.
O-Ton: Acting Director, CIVIL AVIATION If a comparison is made between the last six months of 2003 when there was no liberalization with the corresponding six months of 2004, when there was liberalization, in the Larnaka-Athens itinerary we will note an increase of around 20% in the number of people flying, where the mean increase in the year was only 4%.
O-Ton: HELIOS Airways, Commercial Manager An important fact is that the itineraries to European airports have increased, such as Heathrow, and with the new fares, the passengers, the travelers, are almost spoilt for choice!
O-Ton: Cyprus Airways spokesman … The free market and the laws governing it determine the way the market functions as well as the prices.
O-Ton: Acting Director, CIVIL AVIATION Where there is competition, airfare prices are decreased.
O-Ton: Cyprus Airways spokesman It is a fact that C.A. should become more competitive than they are now. They should try to decrease, as much as possible, their functional costs, and keep their product and their service standards on a very high level, so that they will be able to offer the best possible product to the best possible price.
O-Ton: HELIOS Airways, Commercial Manager We consider this competition healthy, because now the companies are forced to stand on their own two feet and not depend on restrictionism.
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O-Ton: FLIGHT TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTRE Official The liberalization of flights will also influence airlines. Let us, however, examine how it will influence the Flight Control Centre. Us here.
O-Ton: Acting Director, CIVIL AVIATION Sometimes competition creates problems of overcrowding at the airports. There are certain hours of travel that passengers prefer, so competitive airlines all offer flights departing at that particular time.
O-Ton: Air Traffic Controller …There is a considerable increase of incoming and outgoing flights; this, however, was not unexpected … but we believe that, as all statistical data show, traffic will start to increase even more rapidly starting from this summer.
O-Ton: Cyprus Airways spokesman We must learn to live and function within this new, very demanding environment; this is exactly what we are trying to do during this period.
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