This was the national flyer airline of Cyprus. It was established in September 1947 and ceased operations on 9 January 2015. Cyprus Airways had its operating base at Larnaca International Airport as a joint venture between the British Colonial government, holding 40% of the share capital, BEA and private interests owning the rest of the company.
The planes, which carried 21 passengers each, flew on a route network centred on Nicosia that included Rome, London (via Athens), Beirut, Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, and Haifa. In its early years, Cyprus Airways was operated effectively as a subsidiary of BEA. The government of Cyprus became the majority shareholder in 1960 with a 53.2 percent holding, while BEA's stake was reduced to 22.7 percent and private individuals held the rest.
At the start of the Turkish invasion in 1974, the attack on Nicosia airport made it impossible to continue as an airport. The government of Cyprus then moved quickly to build a small terminal by a runway in Larnaca and Cyprus Airways restarted limited operations from there on 8 February 1975.
In February 2012, due to the poor financial results of the airline, the Cypriot government announced it would increase the airline's capital and authorized negotiations for the sale of an unspecified stake of the carrier. As of September 2014, the Cypriot government owned 93.67% of the airline.
The airline ceased operations on 9 January 2015 following a policy made by the European Union that the state aid paid to the airline by the Government of Cyprus was illegal and had to be returned by the company. This effectively caused Cyprus Airways to go bankrupt.
PNT-00375 > Roy Nockolds (1911-1979), Cyprus Airways, Print, 100x63 cm, 1949
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