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EASYJET Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou?s low-cost airline will start flights to and from Cyprus in March. The move has been made possible easyJet?s acquisition of the GB Airways, which is already operational on the island. Starting on March 30, 2008, easyJet will operate 12 weekly flights of GB Airways from Gatwick Airport to Paphos and possibly GB?s seven weekly flights from Manchester to Paphos.

According to the acquisition agreement, these flights will be operated until March 29, by GB Airways which is run under the auspices and the trade mark of British Airways. On March 30, with the end of the franchise agreement between GM Airways and British Airways, the GB flights will be operated with the easyJet trade mark and prices.

The first easyJet flight is expected to land at Paphos airport on March 30. The completion of the acquisition is still subject to approval of relative British authorities. EasyJet acquired GM for £103.5m sterling from the Bland Group. GB owns a fleet of 15 Airbus A320s.

The acquisition agreement is expected to be completed at the end of January, when easyJet will have control of 24% of landing and take off slots at Garwick up from 17%, compared to 25% of British Airways. GB Airways operates a total of 39 routes in southern Europe and north Africa, including Paphos, of which 28 are from Gatwick, six from Manchester and five from Heathrow.

With the acquisition, easyJet will add 19 new destinations for a total of 62 routes from Gatwick. GB Airways reported a pre-tax profit if £2.6m on sales of £250m and carried 2.8m passengers in the year to March.

easyJet is aiming to consolidate GB Airways fully by the winter 2008-9 into the easyJet business model, generating significant cost savings. The fares for the easyJet London to Paphos route will be set later, a communications spokesperson of the airline said.