DISRUPTION to Cypriot air travel abated yesterday as air traffic controllers in Greece agreed to suspend their work to rule protest.

After severe delays and numerous cancellations on Sunday and Monday, Cyprus Airways (CY) began the process of catching up, putting on 52 flights including eight chartered especially to replace previously cancelled services.

More than 450 flights were affected by the protest which began early on Sunday, but CY and Eurocypria bore the brunt as their aircraft are forbidden from entering Turkish airspace, which is necessary to avoid Greece. The Ministry of Communications requested permission to fly over Turkey in coordination with the national carrier for a flight to Brussels on Monday, but received “an immediate and negative response” from Turkish authorities.

Regardless, spokesman for CY Kyriakos Kyriakou said optimistically “the situation is so much better - our flight programme today (Tuesday) will be fine.” Passengers continued to experience delays of up to an hour, but the airline said this represented an “appreciable improvement” and vowed not to relax until normal service is fully resumed. Staff numbers in the customer support department have been doubled, and flight crews are working extra hours to deal with the backlog.  Kyriakou assured those still experiencing difficulties that “every passenger from Sunday and Monday will reach their destination.”

One passenger, Jonathan Mills, reported yesterday as being stranded after his flight (CY359) from Manchester was cancelled, flew on a replacement service chartered yesterday afternoon.

He and his wife however remained critical of the airline, accusing them of “a total lack of communication.” Jo Mills, travelling with their two young children said “It was an absolute mess. We phoned Cyprus Airways 25 times and were told nothing by London or Nicosia. It was so frustrating – we had to ring them, they never rang us.” The Mills’ confirmed that as of yet they have received no offer of compensation for their delay.

Another passenger, Maria Zavallis-Roebuck – who was due to travelling from Manchester to Larnaca on Monday - told the Cyprus Mail in an email yesterday that “although it may have been helpful if more information was given on the airport and Cyprus Airways sites, disruption was minimum”.

“Staff were efficient in handling the situation, within a couple of hours hotel accommodation was arranged for those who wanted it,” she said.

“We were back home by 1pm where we were regularly kept informed of the situation. A difficult situation was dealt with calmly and efficiently.”

The stance of CY is that the cause of the inconvenience in this case is external, blaming the Greek air traffic controllers as well as Turkey’s refusal to cooperate. This may negate any claims for compensation made against the airline, but Kyriakou confirmed that any applications will be examined individually and on their own merit.

Both Cyprus Airways and Eurocypria have provided food and hotels for all passengers where needed, with CY spending €500,000 over the last two days, with official estimates suggesting the total cost of the disruption for Cyprus’ national airline will be well over €1 million.