Cyprus taxi drivers launched a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, accusing ride-hailing apps of operating illegally at Larnaca airport and demanding stronger police enforcement.
The Pan-Cyprian Urban Taxi Guild walked out at 6am, with drivers gathering at Larnaca and Paphos airports and at the Germasogeia River parking area in Limassol. The strike will end at 6am Wednesday.
Drivers say lawlessness prevails at Larnaca airport due to passenger transport by unlicensed private vehicles mobilised through various apps. They claim 30% to 40% of app-based rides use illegal private vehicles.
The drivers had meetings with state authorities but remained unsatisfied.
The action follows a four-hour stoppage on 13 January that failed to prompt further talks. The guild warned on Monday it would escalate to indefinite strike action from 27 January if its demands are ignored.
Drivers are demanding complete disconnection of all ride-hailing apps from Larnaca airport and strict enforcement of taxi base requirements by all apps without exceptions. They describe the situation as out of control and say their professional survival is at stake.
Constantinos Magdalinides, president of the guild’s Larnaca Provincial Committee, said last week’s stoppage exhausted “every margin for dialogue”.
“We need policing and the state beside us. Larnaca airport must stop being a centre of lawlessness,” Magdalinides said. “We claim exclusively legality and justice. Nothing more, nothing less.”
(with information from CNA)