Greetings from Larnaka Airport

Greetings from Larnaka Airport, where construction of the new state of the art facility is bang on schedule for a November 2009 delivery. The current Terminal is like an old aircraft shed in comparison and it most pleasing to see that Larnaka and Cyprus as a whole will be propelled into the 21st Century with a grand new Terminal Building that features a shining glass front and is capable for handling 7.5 million air passengers per year. On a related topic, more good news came from the Cyprus Tourism Organization with their recent proactive decision to lower Government commission interests, which in turn will cause a decrease in the airport fees. This decision was actually long overdue, but welcome all the same, let’s hope that there is still time to gain new air traffic business. We urge the Airport Operator Hermes to make a similar gesture, in order to lower Airport fees further and allow Cyprus to compete on a level playing field with the nearby airports. 

Meanwhile not so far away in Arabia, a symbolic event occurred at the end of last week, when 5 British Tourists, 2 American and 1 Canadian traveled to Iraq in the capacity of Tourists! They stayed at the remodeled Sheraton Baghdad. Needless to say they could not find any insurance for the trip, however they did book with a courageous Tour Operator. Of course access to some of the sites involved long security checks and the tourists did claim to hear bombs going off overnight, although they commented that overall they felt reasonably safe. This has been a long time coming for Baghdad, which used to be the Paris of Arabia. 

Perpetual Traveller this week focuses on Desperate Times for Desperate Measures in the Airline Industry featuring some of the tricks they are resorting to in order to counter the current crisis and expected downturn of passengers for the coming summer. The most alarming of which is charging to use the toilet in-flight! Hypo Global gives you my best advice for Surviving when lost in the Jungle. La Dolce Vita features the important seaport on the Aegean Sea of Smyrna and we bring all the latest security updates on Aviation and around the globe through Hypo Global. 

Grant Holmes
Editor, Perpetual Traveller