Greece extends ban on int'l, domestic flights

ATHENS

The Greek Civil Aviation Authority has announced that it would extend restrictions on international and domestic flights as part of measures in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authority said on Sunday that all domestic flight restrictions will be extended till Feb. 15, while the international flight ban will be extended until Feb. 22.

With regards to domestic flights, only traveling for health and family reasons along with business travels will be allowed, in addition to returning to permanent residence.

All-third country nationals other than EU citizens and Schengen countries' citizens will not be allowed to enter the country. Excluded are the following 10 countries: The UK, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, the UAE, Russia, and Israel.

A seven-day quarantine on all arrivals from abroad including EU arrival is placed. Passengers will have to quarantine at home or at the place of temporary residence stated on the passenger locator form (PLF) .

If they remain in the country for a shorter period, then a temporary restriction is valid until their departure.

In addition, foreign passengers will be subject to a sample check upon arrival, based on the procedure provided by the PLF. If they test positive their quarantine period will be 14 days.

All passengers from the UK will be required to take a rapid test upon arrival as well as a seven-day quarantine will be required.

All flights to and from Turkey continue to be suspended.

Greece on Friday announced that a stricter curfew would be imposed in Attica, Thessaloniki, and Halkidiki as infections last week quadrupled.

Beginning Saturday and for the next 10 days, a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. was imposed on weekends in these three regions.

In the past 24 hours, the country recorded 733 new cases raising the total infections to 163,213 while 21 died from COVID-19 taking the death toll to 5,951.