Flight: Cyprus Airways CY 122
From: Larnaca (LCA) To: Beirut (BEY)
I flew with Cyprus Airways from Larnaca to Beirut. I compared flights with Skyscanner and there were three direct options presented to me: Cobalt, Cyprus Airways, and MEA (Middle East Airways). I hadn’t flown with any of those, so in the end I went with Cyprus Airways for the mid-morning departure and price.
The total price was €78.84, of which €10 was the ticket, €38.84 was taxes, and €30 to check a bag.
I didn’t check in online, and when I arrived at the airport to check in (3 hours before the flight) the queue was empty.
The flight was on time.
Flight CY 122 departs at 10.00 and arrives in the same time zone at 10.40.
The seats were noticeably more comfortable than anything I’ve recently flown. Felt more like a lounge chair. It was a full flight, and I got a window seat as per my preference for short flights.
Breeze – the inflight magazine of Cyprus Airways.
If you are familiar with Cyprus you probably know that Cyprus Airways was the national carrier that operated until 2015. The news of its closure bypassed my news cycle, so I was unaware that the current Cyprus Airways is actually Charlie Airlines (operating as Cyprus Airways). They won the rights to the old name, and have been operating since 2017. Thankfully they don’t present themselves as “Charlie Airlines operating as Cyprus Airways”, so it’s branded as the new national airline. I like the new branding and colour scheme.
As you can see from the route map, the airline is still growing its service out across Europe after a year of being in operation.
The Larnaca – Beirut route is by far their shortest route in the network. One of the reasons I went to Beirut was because it was so close to Larnaca. I was planning a trip to Cyprus, and seeing Lebanon so close on the map was a temptation I couldn’t resist.
A Lebanon immigration form is provided inflight.
There is no meal service, but a menu is provided onboard if you wish to eat.
A sandwich is €5.
Instant coffee is €2, or the fancy stuff for €3.50.
A beer is €4.
And pot noodles are €3.
Not that you will get time to eat on this route. Shortly after the seat belt sign has been turned off and the aircraft has reached cruising altitude, the landing descent begins. The scheduled flying time is 40 minutes, but the flight is closer to 30 minutes.
Overall this was a good flight. I wish the airline well in their future expansion, and I would be happy to fly them again if I find myself coming back to Cyprus.
