Melco International Development’s casino footprint in Cyprus continues to grow following the opening of its second ‘satellite’ gaming venue.
On Friday, the Cyprus Mail reported that Melco’s Cyprus Casinos (C2) subsidiary had opened its latest satellite gaming venue at the international airport in Larnaca, the third-largest city in the Republic of Cyprus.
The C2 Larnaca casino features 42 electronic gaming machines spread across two separate spaces, one of which is restricted to departing passengers who have already cleared airport security, while the other is located in the arrivals area and is accessible by all airport guests. Both areas are operational around the clock.
The exclusive casino concession that Melco was awarded in 2016 allows the company to open four satellite gaming venues, the first of which opened in Nicosia earlier this month. The Nicosia venue featured 50 slots and five gaming tables, despite the fact that the legislation was supposed to restrict these venues to slots only.
The Nicosia venue is reportedly welcoming around 600 visitors per day, including one fortunate foreigner who won a €500k payday playing roulette, while another less fortunate high-roller lost €130k during his stay.
Melco says it expects to open its final two satellite venues in Paphos and Ayia Napa next spring. In June, Melco opened its ‘temporary’ casino in Limassol, which features 33 gaming tables and 242 slots. This Limassol venue will close once Melco’s permanent €550m City of Dream Mediterranean integrated resort opens sometime in 2021, but the four satellite venues will remain open.
Craig Ballantyne, property president of both C2 and City of Dreams Mediterranean, said this week that the Limassol property was currently drawing roughly 84% of its customers from Cyprus, while the bulk of the rest came from Russia, Israel, Jordan and China.
