Cyprus News Agency

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Airplanes arriving in Cyprus were about 85% full in May, with numbers continuing to climb, according to Maria Kouroupi, director of aviation development and communication at Hermes Airports.

Kouroupi told the Cyprus News Agency on Friday that about 41,000 passengers are passing through Larnaca and Paphos airports daily.

The second ship transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza as part of the Amalthea project is likely to depart from Larnaca, Cyprus on Saturday, according to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins Monday in Gaza with no truce in sight, as fighting rages between Israeli forces and Hamas militants and a dire humanitarian crisis grips the besieged Palestinian territory.

A Spanish charity ship with food aid prepared to sail from Cyprus to the coastal Gaza Strip, where the U.N. has repeatedly warned of famine.

The drilling by Italian energy giant ENI in the Cronos-2 field in Block 6 of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) appears to have discovered another natural gas reservoir, with sources telling the Cyprus News Agency that gas flaring was successfully carried out on Thursday.

The European Union is ready to support United Nations-backed efforts to resume Cyprus peace talks, Belgian Ambassador to Cyprus Marc Calcoen told the Cyprus News Agency, as his country prepares to assume the bloc's six-month rotating presidency on January 1. 

UN peacekeepers on the ethnically divided island of Cyprus are reportedly keeping a close eye on recent Turkish Cypriot activity in the buffer zone between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish-occupied north, following tension in August over Turkish Cypriot efforts to build a road traversing United Nations-controlled territory.

The Transocean Barents floating drilling rig has set sail from Limassol and is en route to the Cronos gas field. It will conduct drilling operations on behalf of the Italian company ENI in the Cronos-2 area in Block 6 of the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ), approximately 160 kilometers southwest of Cyprus, according to a report from the Cyprus News Agency.

Hotel occupancy in July was between 80%-85%, with better results expected for August when occupancy rates could reach 90%. Head of the Cyprus Hotels Association (PASYXE) Thanos Michaelides told the Cyprus News Agency there are positive signs for August for domestic tourism, while September is deemed "satisfactory." 

Greece on Monday dispatched two Canadair fire-fighting aircraft after a call for assistance from fellow European Union member Cyprus to help fight a blaze that has scorched miles of mountainous terrain.