Cyprus Strike Grounds Flights At Larnaca And Paphos

A tightly timed nationwide strike in Cyprus is grounding and retiming flights at both Larnaca International Airport (LCA) and Paphos International Airport (PFO), turning the late morning into a high risk connection window instead of business as usual. Hermes Airports, which operates both gateways, confirms that more than 50 arrivals and departures will be affected by the three hour stoppage from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, September 11, 2025, with at least 15,000 passengers impacted. Travelers who are booked on flights touching Cyprus in that window should expect cancellations, automatic rebookings, and crowding in the hours immediately before and after the strike.

The walkout is part of a wider dispute over the Cost of Living Allowance, known locally as CoLA, with unions calling the three hour general strike after talks with employers and the government broke down. The action affects airports, schools, and other public services, but at Larnaca and Paphos the impact is focused on security screening, ground handling, and some air traffic functions, which will be staffed at minimum levels during the stoppage.

Cyprus Airport Strike Compresses Midday Operations

Hermes Airports reports that airlines have already consolidated their schedules around the strike window, shifting flights into the morning and late afternoon rather than operating through the three hour stoppage. A representative told local media that more than 50 arrival and departure flights will be disrupted between 1100 a.m. and 200 p.m. EET, and that the number of affected passengers will exceed 15,000 once all retimings are finalized.

Six flights have been outright cancelled in advance at Larnaca, including Jazeera Airways services to and from Kuwait City, Qatar Airways flights to and from Doha, and an Emirates service from Dubai to Larnaca that was scheduled to continue on to Malta. Other carriers, including European leisure and low cost airlines that use Cyprus heavily in late summer, are retiming flights rather than cancelling them, which is contributing to heavier demand in the surrounding time bands.

Because the strike is strictly limited to three hours, most airlines are treating it as an operational constraint that can be managed by compressing schedules rather than shutting down the airports for the day. In practice, that means tighter seat availability on flights leaving before about 1030 a.m. and after about 300 p.m., longer lines for check in and security as multiple departures cluster together, and a higher risk that later connections will be missed if those retimed flights still encounter delays.

Latest Developments

Cyprus media and international outlets describe the strike as a nationwide action focused on restoring automatic inflation adjustments in wages, with major unions coordinating the three hour stoppage after CoLA negotiations stalled. Public transport and parts of the health system are also affected, although core emergency services remain available.

For air travel, the pattern is clear. Short and medium haul flights within Europe and to the Middle East are being retimed, while some long haul connections that use Cyprus as a tag or technical stop are being cancelled outright. Hermes is directing passengers to monitor airline messages, check the live flight boards on its website, and contact carriers or travel advisors directly for updated departure and arrival times rather than going by the original ticket.

Separately, the United States travel advisory for Cyprus remains at Level 1, Exercise Normal Precautions, with no change triggered by the strike. That confirms the disruption is operational rather than security related, even though it has clear knock on effects for anyone connecting through the island.

Analysis

For travelers, the key risk is not that Larnaca or Paphos will close completely, but that the normal spacing between flights collapses around the strike window. When multiple retimed departures are squeezed into the two hours before 1100 a.m. and the first wave after 200 p.m., any delay on the ground can cascade into missed connections at onward hubs.

If you are booked to connect through Cyprus on September 11, 2025, the safest moves are straightforward. First, avoid itineraries that require a change of planes at Larnaca or Paphos between about 1000 a.m. and 330 p.m. EET. If your ticket shows a layover in that band, ask your airline or travel advisor to move you to an earlier inbound flight or a later onward departure, even if the strike has not yet triggered a cancellation on your specific segment.

Second, consider rerouting entirely via other hubs. Many itineraries that would normally use Cyprus as a stop can instead flow through Athens International Airport (ATH), Istanbul Airport (IST), or major Western European hubs such as London Heathrow (LHR) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA). For example, passengers traveling between the Gulf and Europe might switch from an Emirates tag through Larnaca to nonstop options through Dubai or Doha, or from a Jazeera Airways or Qatar Airways routing via Cyprus to a direct connection in Kuwait or Doha themselves. These reroutes can preserve long haul segments even if the short Cyprus leg disappears.

Change fees, refunds, and compensation

Under European Union rules on air passenger rights, often referred to as EU261, airlines that cancel or significantly retime flights must offer affected passengers a choice of rerouting at the earliest opportunity, travel on a later date, or a refund of the unused portion of the ticket. Those obligations apply regardless of whether the disruption is caused by a strike.

However, cash compensation for delays or cancellations is only due when the disruption is within the airline's control. Strikes by airport staff, public sector workers, or air traffic control are generally treated as extraordinary circumstances, which means carriers still have to provide care and rerouting but do not usually owe the standard lump sum payments. In practice, many airlines overlay that legal baseline with their own goodwill policies, waiving change fees and fare differences for a short window around the strike so that customers can move to flights on different dates without penalty.

If your flight to or from Cyprus is cancelled outright, you can normally choose between a refund and rerouting, including via alternative hubs if the airline can book you that way on its own services or partners. If your flight is retimed and you no longer have a viable connection, you should ask the carrier to rework the full itinerary instead of accepting a single segment change that leaves you stranded mid journey. Self connecting travelers who bought separate tickets face more risk, but they can still invoke the basic rights on each cancelled segment while using alternative hubs to rebuild the trip.

Background

The strike itself is rooted in a dispute over Cyprus's Cost of Living Allowance, which is meant to keep wages aligned with inflation. Unions argue that the allowance should be fully restored after years of partial application, while employers and the government have pushed for more limited adjustments. After mediation failed, unions coordinated the three hour walkout across multiple sectors as a warning shot, signaling that more industrial action is possible if talks remain stalled.

For air travel, the precedent is important. A limited duration strike that still grounds about 50 flights and affects 15,000 travelers shows how sensitive Cyprus's connectivity is to disruptions in public services, especially at peak tourism times. Travelers who rely on the island as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East or as a gateway for holiday packages should expect that future strikes over CoLA or similar disputes could follow the same three hour pattern.

Final thoughts

The three hour general strike in Cyprus on September 11, 2025, turns the late morning into a pinch point for air travel, grounding or retiming more than 50 flights at Larnaca and Paphos and pushing 15,000 travelers into compressed departure banks. The smartest strategy is to treat that 1100 a.m. to 200 p.m. EET window as off limits for connections, move to earlier or later flights where possible, and lean on alternative hubs such as Athens and Istanbul when Cyprus segments are cancelled. Knowing that the United States travel advisory remains at Level 1, and that EU passenger rights still guarantee rerouting or refunds, can help travelers navigate the disruption with clear expectations and fewer surprises.

Sources

• General strike to affect over 50 flights at Cyprus Airports on Thursday
• Three hour strike to disrupt flights, schools and health services across Cyprus
• Six flights canceled as Cyprus airports prepare for Thursday strike
• Cyprus faces disruption as unions strike for automatic inflation adjustment
• Cyprus Strike Strands 15,000 Travelers and Disrupts Public Services
• Air passenger rights, air travel
• Air Passengers Rights Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
• Cyprus Travel Advisory