Since the very future of our national carrier is in doubt, this is perhaps a minor point - on the other hand, it could be viewed as symptomatic of the approach that has led the company to the brink.

It's 2011, and most travellers are encouraged to book online, check-in online - indeed, do the airlines' jobs for them online. Most of us comply, and when the system works, it does indeed facilitate matters for all.

I'm sure many people, like me, shun Internet Explorer (IE) as a browser because of its inherent security weaknesses. Most, I believe, use Firefox or Google Chrome for their online transactions (in Europe, Firefox has replaced IE as the leading browser - and one assumes that most people booking with Cyprus Airways are in Europe).

ARCHBISHOP CHRYSOSTOMOS' recent comments on foreigners in Cyprus have shocked many people. “We cannot have all kinds of seeds here” he is quoted as saying. Surely he is aware that ethnocentrism, regardless of whether it is based on historical grudges or on the erroneous teachings of men, is wholly contrary to God’s word. We are very clearly commanded to love one another (John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”), and such a command precludes ANY discrimination based on race or culture.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb." (Revelation 7:9-10)

Quite what the government hopes to achieve by writing to the UN and the EU “to put things into perspective and to give the whole story” with regard to this week’s basketball hooliganism (racism?) is not clear.

Yet again, after some condemnatory platitudes from all the political parties and the government, what we are seeing is a failure to acknowledge that hooliganism - indeed racism – is something that no-one in authority in Cyprus is willing to tackle seriously.

This is something that has been “discussed” for years now, yet no action is taken.

If the mountains catch fire we are very happy to allow helicopters and military personnel from the British Bases to help douse the flames.

When it comes to helping stop an illegal activity like bird trapping, however, suddenly the same forces are “colonial remnants” according to our illustrious politicians.

The furore about the Deputy Attorney General’s teeth implants has highlighted yet another discrepancy in Cyprus’ antiquated mollycoddling of civil servants: despite their hugely inflated salaries (often, it seems, for sitting idly in their offices from 7.30 – 2.30 every day) they are entitled to free health care.

In contrast, the average citizen – if his combined family income exceeds the princely sum of €22,000 – must pay for even the most minor treatment or test.

It is largely thanks to opposition from the civil service that - after more than a decade of promises to introduce a National Health Service – we still don’t have universal health care in Cyprus.