Survival Guide to Larnaca Airport, Cyrprus

The Larcana Airport buses are fairly symbolic of the pubic transport service as a whole. The number 22 and 23 take in the city centre but there are only around 7 runs a day and the last one leaves at 16:00. In addition there is no service available on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. Tickets are bought on board at a cost of EUR1.20. As well as going to the centre of Larcana, there are other buses that journey further afield to places like Ayia Napa, Limassol and the capital, Nicosia. More reliable options are to use Larnaca Airport Transfers, where a driver meets you in arrivals and whisks you straight off to a waiting car or any one of the Larnaca Airport taxis based just outside the terminal. For the 10-15 minute drive into Larnaca it costs around EUR10-15. To check rates for other destinations there is a price board hanging in arrivals with up-to-date details.

Situated 5km south of the city centre, Larnaca Airport comprises one terminal, 21 aircraft stands and 9 departure gates. Cheap flights to Larnaca are offered by several low cost providers including easyJet and Thomson Flights and leave from a number of UK airports. Flights to Larnaca go from Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted. Once landed, passengers are transferred via shuttle bus to the terminal building and go through passport control before collecting luggage at one of the 6 baggage reclaim belts. If for any reason property has gone missing, then there is a lost luggage office located close by, although is not currently possible to store anything here. Alternatively the airline helpdesks are also based in the arrivals hall to help with locating missing items.

For those who have not managed to change up money before leaving the UK, then there are a host of ATMs, a post office, currency exchange office and three banks all situated either in the Larnaca Airport arrivals hall or public concourse to choose from. There is a tourist information desk offering literature about Larnaca and a 24 hour business centre enabling visitors to keep on top of any work commitments through a range of services such as fax, Internet access and copying facilities. Other facilities include the obligatory duty free shop, newsagent, pharmacy and gift shop. For refreshment there is a cafeteria in the public concourse and a restaurant and bar in Larnaca Airport departures which also boasts 48 check-in desks.

The most important area of information however once you have reached an airport is knowing about onward travel. As the public transport system in the country is not fabulous, for those wanting to travel around at all, car hire at Larnaca Airport is pretty much essential. There are 8 Larnaca Airport car rental firms and these are Astra, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Petsas, Sixt and Thrifty. Fortunately vehicles drive on the right in Cyprus and along with the helpful road signs provided in English as well as Greek plus the large, well-maintained road network, driving here should potentially be a breeze for British visitors.