Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the extension of non-essential travel restriction for domestic flights until Monday, February 8, 2021 at 06:00 am. in order to protect passengers and citizens from COVID-19 disease.
In particular, the directive concerning domestic flights (regular passenger services, general aviation and commercial flights – domestic flights, commercial and general / business aviation), provides that all essential airports of the country are allowed only essential domestic travel (Essential Travel) which include travel for health issues, for business / business purposes, for objective family reasons (family reunification) and for return to permanent residence.
The following flights are excluded from the air directive (Notam):
* Flights that indicate that they are in a dangerous situation (emergency flights).
* Support flights of the Hellenic National Healthcare system (Hellenic national healthcare system flights).
* State flights.
* Sanitary flights.
* Humanitarian flights.
* Military flights.
* Cargo flights.
* Fire fighting flights.
* Frontex flights (frontex flights).
* Technical landing flights where passengers do not disembark.
* Return flights only with its crew (ferry flights).
Restrictions on International Arrivals
Travellers are subject to mandatory precautionary restrictions at home or at the place of temporary residence stated on the form Passenger Locator Form, for seven (7) days, unless they remain in Greece for a shorter period, in which case the temporary restriction is valid for this period, ie until their departure.
In addition, international passengers will be subjected to a rapid test upon arrival, based on the procedure provided by the Passenger Locator Form. In case the tests find a positive passenger, the quarantine will be valid for 14 days.
The Passenger Locator Form (PLF) is a key element in the planning. All travelers must complete their PLF until the day before entering the country, providing detailed information on their point of departure, the duration of previous stays in other countries, and the address of their stay while in Greece. In case of multiple stays, they are required to provide the address for the first 24 hours at least. One PLF should be submitted per family.
- Travelers will receive a confirmation email upon submission of the PLF.
- Travelers will receive the PLF with their unique Quick Response (QR) code on the day of their scheduled arrival in Greece (at midnight) and will be notified via email (the QR code will be provided in a link in the confirmation email).
- Travelers boarding or embarking on the previous day of the arrival will be allowed to do so upon showing the confirmation email, since they will receive their QR code during their flight or voyage.
The PLF can also be found on the Visit Greece app and at travel.gov.gr.
United Kingdom – 7-day quarantine, rapid test and a new PCR test: Especially for incoming passengers from the UK, everyone will be tested with a rapid test upon arrival. At the same time, in order to get out of quarantine, passengers from the United Kingdom will have to undergo a new PCR test after the 7-day quarantine period is completed.
International arrivals only with a negative test of 72 hours: NOTAM says that all passengers of international flights can enter the country only with a negative PCR test Covid-19 which will be performed up to 72 hours before their arrival. However, passengers will be subjected to a sample test upon entering the Greek territory based on the PLF.
Suspension of flights with Turkey / Catalonia: The suspension of flights between Greece and Turkey and between Greece and the region of Catalonia in Spain is extended.
Arrivals only to AIA from Albania / Northern Macedonia: All flights to and from Greece from Albania and Northern Macedonia according to the new extension of NOTAM will be operated only at AIA “Eleftherios Venizelos”.
Prohibition of entry to Greece of Non-European Citizens: The air directive that provides for a ban on entry to the country of Non-European Citizens (Non EU Citizens) is also extended.
Israel and Russia were added to the exemptions in the aviation directive, bringing the total number of countries exempted from the ban on entry to Greece to 11. In particular, NOTAM excludes residents of the following 11 countries: the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the Russian Federation and Israel.
Travellers coming from Russian Federation: Especially for Russia (permanent residents) the following restrictions remain, arrivals only at the airports of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Heraklion and a maximum entry limit for Greece of 500 passengers per week.
There will be a limit of 10,000 passengers per week arriving from Israel to all airports.
Exceptions to the pre-existing NOTAMs apply to all international flight instructions extended until Monday, February 8, 2021.
