On May 31st, from Limassol, the first of the 22 routes scheduled for this year of the Cyprus-Greece sea connection will start, with the last one running on September 1st from the port of Larnaca. As announced yesterday in a press conference, from today the booking portal opens for the 14 itineraries that will be operated from the port of Limassol and the eight itineraries that will start in July from the port of Larnaca.
According to the Deputy Minister of Shipping, Marina Hatzimanoli, this year the services offered by the contracting company Scandro Holding, through the ferry ship Daleela, will be upgraded. As he said, better quality services will be provided, based on the comments of the passenger public in the year of the launch of the route. “In this direction, a group of officers from the Deputy Ministries of Shipping and Tourism proceeded to inspect the hotel facilities with very satisfactory results, while giving instructions for some changes that will help to further improve the services provided”.
The Deputy Minister of Shipping noted that last year 7,412 passengers traveled with Daleela and 2,250 vehicles were transported. He also added that great importance is given to serving the needs of passengers “especially those who face difficulties in traveling by air, either for medical reasons, or due to age or aerophobia and who feel excluded on the island”.
The Cypriot-flagged ship, according to the information given by the official of the Ministry of Shipping, Zacharias Kapsis, has a passenger capacity of 400 people and more than 300 vehicles. Specifically, it has 38 first class cabins for 110 passengers, 68 second class cabins for 180 passengers and 110 airline seats. He also noted that the 22 scheduled routes will be round trips and that eight will be operated between May and June, seven in July and the remaining seven between August and September.
For his part, Ilias Soulis, CEO of Scandro Holding, assured the passenger public that everything is ready for the start of the second season of operation of the Cyprus-Greece maritime passenger connection. “It also opens the upgraded reservation system, providing the possibility to buy round-trip tickets so that all interested citizens can get their tickets in time,” he noted.
Despite the intense background that preceded and the initial discomfort over the inclusion of Larnaca in the maritime connection, the two cities are now cooperating for the success of the route to Piraeus. “We are too small a place not to be able to join forces. We are here joining forces with Larnaca, not only with the connection of the city with Piraeus, but also for many other issues”, stated the chairman of the Development, Tourism and Shipping Committee of the Municipality of Limassol, Christis Dimitriou and wished that this route would be the beginning for even more collaborations.
The mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Vyras, also noted that this sea connection with Greece is expected to upgrade and help even more the tourism of Larnaca and by extension Cyprus in general.
source: Philenews
