Emirates has decided to reinstate a stop in Cyprus, just two weeks after it announced that it would drop it, giving no reason for this change of heart.

The Dubai airline originally announced that as from March 1 it was going to fly five times a week to Dubai via Tunis, returning non-stop from Dubai to Malta.

But it then announced that it would add two more flights a week, retaining the original Malta/ Larnaca/Dubai/Larnaca/Malta route introduced in 2005.

The route was closely linked to the initial success of travel agency ROCS. In fact, ROCS launched an advertising campaign to Cyprus in The Sunday Times of Malta just a day before Emirates announced that the flights via Larnaca would be operated.

The Emirates spokesman declined to comment on what the strategic interest was of a stop in Tunis, nor why the decision on Cyprus was reversed.

“Emirates plans its routes and network in accordance with what best serves our customers’ needs and what is commercially viable. Cyprus and Malta are important markets and we have decided to continue offering flights between these two points to fulfil the demand on this sector,” the spokesman said.

“Adding Tunis as a stop on the circular route of Dubai-Tunis-Malta-Dubai is made on the same consideration of passenger demand and commercial viability.”

If the sale of Air Malta shareholding goes through, Emirates may soon have to compete with rival airline Etihad which operates via Abu Dhabi.

Emirates flies to 150 destinations while Etihad operates more than 1,000 flights per week to 116 destinations but has extensive codeshare agreements which give it a network of nearly 580 destinations, and over 25,200 flights per week.