Although it is the third largest island is the Mediterranean, access to Cyprus is mostly by air travel using the two international airports at Paphos in the west and Larnaca in the east - both managed by Hermes Airports Ltd. The port of Limassol - the second largest city in Cyprus - is primarily a freight handling facility. Within the next 3 to 5 years, as part of a major upgrade of the city's commercial and retail infrastructure, the port at Larnaca is being transformed into a cruise liner centre serving the Eastern Mediterranean.

A new (replacement) terminal building was opened in November 2008 at Paphos International Airport with improved road access, catering and parking facilities. This airport is strategically located on the coast about 15km east of central Paphos within convenient drive time of the regional hinterland leading to upscale resorts such as Coral Bay and Latchi - and only a few kilometres from the premier golf, leisure and residential complex at Aphrodite Hills.

Larnaca International Airport is the principal point of entry for onward travel to the city and the rest of Cyprus; the capital and financial centre (Nicosia) is just 30 minutes away. Existing facilities at Larnaca Airport will be replaced in November 2009 by a new terminal building with state-of-the-art passenger handling facilities at a nearby site with improved direct motorway access into the heart of the airport from across Cyprus. A reflection of the growing appeal of Larnaca as a travel destination is the planned opening of the first easyHotel  ' in the sun '. The low cost airline easyJet arrives in Larnaca with direct flights to London (Gatwick) airport from the Spring of 2009, complementing the existing route between Paphos and Gatwick Airport.

Larnaca has the easternmost airport in the European Union and is within convenient reach of the Middle East and North Africa. It is also strategically placed for refuelling stopovers needed by corporate and private aircraft users.

As an established destination for leisure travel, Cyprus continues to be well served at both airports by charter airlines during the main tourist season - carriers include, Thomas Cook, Thomsonfly, flyglobespan and First Choice.

Larnaca is by far the larger of the two airports in terms of passenger numbers and use by major international and regional airlines. Carriers include Cyprus Airways, British Airways, easyJet, Monarch, Emirates, Olympic Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Lufthansa, Kuwait Airways, Aegean Airlines, Aeroflot, Air Malta, Austrian Airlines, Bulgaria Air, Czech Airlines, Eurocypria Airlines, Finnair, Gulf Air, Jazeera Airways, KLM, Malev Hungarian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Rossiya, Royal Jordanian and TAROM.

In the 'global village' Cyprus may be an island but it is not remote. With direct flights to major cities in Europe and the Middle East, it is easy to reach destinations across the world by flying variously from Larnaca or Paphos to transportation hubs such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dubai and Vienna - for onward connections to the USA, Canada, Australia, South America, Africa and the Far East.