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Greece extends travel restrictions to international flight passengers

Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority (CA) announced on Friday the extension of aviation directives (notams) and travel restrictions for all flight passengers arriving to Greece from abroad as well as restrictions for non-EU citizens with some exceptions. The notams refer among others, to the 7-day quarantine, PLF form, negative PCR Covid-19 tests, Rapid tests upon arrival, and flight restrictions for certain countries.

The flight travel directives have been extended until Monday, February 8, 2021

Under a new notam, there is no limit on the number of passengers arriving from Israel. The limit was 10,000 per week.

According to CAA press release, with the aim of protecting passengers and citizens, the following international air traffic directives are extended and valid from Friday, January 22, 2021 at dawn until Monday, February 8, 2021 at midnight.

7-day quarantine for all arrivals from abroad: All passengers entering Greece up until February 8 at midnight, from any foreign country, including the member-states of the European Union, are subject to a mandatory precautionary confinement to their home or the temporary residence they have declared in their Passenger Locator Form (PLF) for seven days. If their stay in Greece is for shorter duration, the temporary restriction is valid until the time of their departure.

Foreign passengers may be subjected to a rapid test upon arrival, based on the procedure provided by the PLF. If a passenger tests positive, the mandatory period of quarantine is extended to 14 days.

For arrivals from United Kingdom, in addition to a seven-day quarantine and rapid test, they must also provide a new negative PCR test at the end of the seven-day quarantine in order for this to be lifted. Rapid tests will be carried out on all passengers on flights from the UK upon arrival.

International arrivals are only permitted to enter if they can display a negative PCR test taken in the previous 72 hours. The notam stipulates that all passengers on international flights can only enter Greece if they have a negative PCR test and may also be subjected to a random rapid test upon arrival, based on the PLF.

The aviation directive extends the requirement for mandatory completion of the PLF at the electronic address https://travel.gov.gr/ by all passengers on international flights to Greece. Filling in a PLF is also mandatory for passengers on foreign flights who are permanent residents of Greece and depart from the airports of Greece.

A suspension of flights between Greece and Turkey and between Greece and the region of Catalonia in Spain is extended.
All flights to and from Greece from Albania and North Macedonia, according to the new extension of notam, will be operated only at the international airport of Athens “Eleftherios Venizelos.”

The aviation directive extends a ban on the entry of non-European citizens (Non EU Citizens) into Greece. Israel and Russia were added to the exempted countries in the aviation directive, bringing the total of 11 countries exempted from the entry ban to Greece to 11. These 11 countries are:

  • the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the Russian Federation and Israel.

Especially for Russia (permanent residents) the following restrictions remain: Arrivals only at the airports of Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion and a maximum entry limit of 500 passenger arrivals per week.

Exceptions to foreign flight aviation directives under previous notams will also apply for those extended until February 8.

CAA press release in Greek here.

Note that the EU rejected on Thursday, the Greek proposal for a “vaccine certificate.”

More information on coronavirus in Greece here.

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