Airline companies show keen interest for flights to Cyprus, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos has said, adding that there is a number of planned flights from new companies and also for destination with poor connectivity.

Speaking to the press on Friday the Minister said that as of yesterday the flights resumed and the airports reopened, adding that passengers from the EU and European Economic Area as well as from 15 third countries including the UK can now travel to Cyprus and are exempted of quarantine or self-isolation.
 
He recalled that countries fall under three categories , green, orange and red and certain criteria apply such as a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to their arrival. The Minister also said that passengers from Israel who carry a vaccination card are free of any restriction. Karousos said that yesterday a total of three flights arrived on the island and the majority of the passengers were inoculated and those who had no vaccination card underwent the appropriate checks at the airport.

Transport Minister explained that April is a pilot month and is a test of how the protocols work, adding that end of May-beginning of June we will see an increase in flights.

However, he noted that the situation is changing and we need to assess all epidemiological data at the time.

Karousos said that it is important for the tourist sector to reopen adding that our country based on the epidemiological figures is categorized by other countries in the green or orange zone. The Minister said that recently Ryanair announced its season schedule with flights to Paphos, WIZZ Air announced that it will be adding another aircraft to its schedule and TUS Airways is requesting an authorization to resume flights from Cyprus. He also said that flights are scheduled to destinations in France, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries adding that new companies add the route Greece-Cyprus to their program.

He also said that the authorities are in touch with the UK to see how the vaccination card will work for all those who wish to travel May 1st onwards.

As regards the tourists from Russia the Minister said that the country is in the red zone and the visitors need to follow the protocols when they wish to travel to the island.