Flights to Cyprus

[the new blue]

Anyone know of a quality airline which flys to Cyprus? We usually fly with Cyprus Airways but they're getting quite expensive. Thank You!

[Narolines]

Where are you flying from? We fly to Cyprus several times a year from Birmingham, and Cyprus Airways are far and away the best carriers on that route. Ok, they're a tad pricey in high summer, but the rest of the year they're not only better than the rest but cheaper. I've just booked a return flight for two at �425 inc all taxes and charges, and that's less than half what we paid for a charter airline (First Choice) a couple of months ago. You could try Air Malta - they operate from BHX , and from other UK airports too, and seem to be reasonably priced. Otherwise I don't think you'll find many scheduled carriers any cheaper than Cyprus Airways - not on direct flights, anyway. You may find a cheaper deal if you're prepared to do the journey in stages and take two or three times the time over it. There are cheaper charter carriers, but they're not a lot of fun, on the whole.....

[Buenchico]

It would help if we knew where you were starting out from ;-)
(There's probably not much point in checking whether there are any flights from, say, Cardiff if you live in Aberdeen!)

As a starting point, I'll provide you with a list of all airlines flying from London to Cyprus:

London City Airport: No services.

Luton Airport: No services to Larnaca. ThomsonFly and Libra Holidays operate to Paphos.

Stansted Airport: The only services (both to Larnaca and Paphos) are with Cyprus Airways.

Heathrow Airport: There are no flights to Paphos. Cyprus Airways and BA operate to Larnaca.

Gatwick Airport: Eurocypria (which is part of the Cyprus Airways group), Excel, First Choice, MyTravel, Thomas Cook and ThomsonFly all operate to both Larnaca and Paphos. GB Airways (which is a division of BA) and FlyJet also operate to Paphos.

If you're looking for reasonably priced 'quality' airlines from among that lot (apart from Cyprus Airways), check out GB Airways (which uses BA liveried aircraft and BA staff, but is frequently much cheaper than BA-badged services) and Eurocypria (which seems to be doing the same type of thing for Cyprus Airways). FlyJet might also be worth checking out. (Their flights can only be booked through a travel agent, not online. They seem to be 'take the middle ground in the way they operate i.e. seats are normally allocated omn a'first come - first served' basis but an in-flight meal is included in the fare).

Now that I've typed all of that out, you'll probably tell me that you really do live in Aberdeen ;-)

Chris

[NORMANTHEDOG]

i have just booked a return flight to paphos next may for �75 return,from gatwick with thompsons,first choice and thompson fly to cyprus from luton,and ajet fly to larnaca from luton most days of the week.there are flights to paphos from heathrow with cyprus airways and ajet, BEUNCHICO, A LOT OF YOUR INFO IS NOT ACCURATE MY FRIEND

[Buenchico]

A response to Norman's post:

In the absence of any useful websites for either Paphos or Larnaca airports, I based my post upon the information posted on the five websites for each of London's airports. Other than working through lots of different airline's sites, that seemed to be the best way to find fairly reliable information.

Norman is correct in spotting that the Ajet flights are missing from my post. There's a very good reason for that: They went bust last week!

Chris

[Narolines]

Yes, you can go with somebody like Thomsons for �75 - but the question asked for a quality airline - which Thomsonfly certainly isn't. It's OK for what you pay, and not too bad for a flight of up to a couple of hours, but it's not a pleasant experience on a flight of 4/5 hours duration. You'd have to be looking at scheduled carriers; the best charter flight we've had was with Thomas Cook, but it was still a good deal downmarket of Cyprus Airways.

[the new blue]

Thanks for all your answers & info - I forgot to mention that the flight is from Manchester to either Larnaca or Paphos for September 2007. I will check through all the info received - thanks very much for that - and will post back anything I can find out ... watch this space & thanks again !!

[Buenchico]

I've just taken a look at the Manchester Airport website. It seems that the only alternative to Cyprus Airways (for scheduled flights) is GB Airways. This is the 'mid-to-budget' arm of BA. (You travel in BA-liveried aircraft, with BA staff, but in-flight meals have to be paid for).

Unlike true 'budget' airlines, GB Airways already have their 'late summer' schedules online. Flights are available, next September, to both Larnaca and Paphos, with typical return prices (including all taxes and charges) roughly in the range of �180 to �240. Booking is through the BA website:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/publ ic/en_gb

Chris

[NORMANTHEDOG]

narolines,how can you say thompson and airlines like first choice,monarch,and the rest are not quality airlines.cyprus airways arent that bloody good,i have a property in paphos and fly there 4/5 times a year,i have flown with all of them and they are all as good,and yes chris you are right ajet did go bust on 6/11/06 my apologies,i dident know that

[Narolines]

Just my experience - I've always found CY gave me more legroom, better service, reasonably edible food and don't try to sell me scratch-cards and stuff. I've found the charter carriers more cramped and less attentive. If your experience has been different, then fair enough; I can only speak as I find, and I'm quite prepared to accept that others may have had a different experience.

[the new blue]

Thanks for all the feedback - I have to say Ive always found Cyprus Airways to be really good - we flew with Eurocypria for the first time in September, and they were equally as good - I was trying to get prices for September next year but Eurocupria arent listed that far ahead. My other half needs a lot of legroom, which is quite an important factor when we travel - I cant comment on any of the other airlines mentioned as we have only ever used Cyprus Airways for the last six years, which was why I was wondering about comparable alternatives. We're flying Cyprus AIrways from Stanted to Paphos (I think!) on Boxing Day (Manchester was booked up) and again in May from Manchester - its really good to know we're going back! Thanks again for all comments & suggestions - always glad to hear more! Cheers, x

[Lankidoodles]

Eurocypria is who i normally fly with and they are quite cheap as are Libra.