Arrivals via ‘Cyprus Flight Pass’

As already announced, the gradual easing of the ban on flights at Larnaca and Paphos airports will take place in two phases:

• Phase A: June 9, 2020 – June 19, 2020
• Phase B: June 20, 2020

In an announcement on Monday, the Transport Ministry said that countries will be divided according to their epidemiological profiles into Category A and Category B. A third group, Category C, will comprise those countries not included in the first two groups. The Health Ministry will continuously evaluate countries and categorisation will shift based on epidemiological criteria.

The restoration of the free movement of people between the Republic of Cyprus and other countries will be a gradual and coordinated process, the Transport Ministry said.

“The primary prerequisite for the restoration of flights was and will be the epidemiological situation and relevant measures will be taken at airports to mitigate health risks,” said the Transport Ministry.

It was clarified that the measures are flexible so as to have the possibility of reinstating them in case the epidemiological situation deems it necessary on the one hand and to lift them faster on the other in case the epidemiological situation allows.

The timeframe for the completion of the entire process that will lead to the scrapping entirely of restrictive measures will also be affected by the level of compliance of citizens moving within the island’s airports, it was noted.

“All stages will be based on the evaluation of the evolving situation and on the constant monitoring of the epidemiological criteria,” the Ministry said.

Phase A – Prerequisites

For Phase A, any passengers who wish to travel to Cyprus from Category A and B countries will need to:

• have undergone a test at a recognised lab within at least 72 hours prior to departure and hold a certificate that demonstrates a negative PCR for Covid-19.
• have provided certain information and solemn declarations.

These categories of passengers:

1) Cypriot citizens, their foreign spouses and their underage children,

2) Legal residents in the Republic,

3) Persons entitled to enter the Republic as per the Vienna Convention,

4) Persons of any nationality who are allowed to enter the Republic following a special permit granted by the Republic,

5) Persons of any nationality who have demonstrated, and following an announcement by the Health Ministry of Cyprus, that the authorities of their Category A or B country of residence do not offer a lab testing service will have the option of taking the test upon their arrival in Cyprus and pay 60 euros for the cost of the test. In this instance, passengers will remain in self-isolation at their home or place of accommodation until their result comes out.

For countries not included in Categories A and B during the first phase of the gradual relaunch of flights (09/06/2020 -19/06/2020), flights to and from Cyprus are prohibited.

Flights will only be allowed for cargo, rescue flights flying into Cyprus without passengers to repatriate people who wish to leave the island, flights for humanitarian reasons and other individual flights for exceptional cases of emergency that will be allowed only after permission has been obtained by the Transport Minister.

Moreover, only the following passenger categories will be allowed to travel to Cyprus from Category C countries:

1) Cypriot citizens permanently residing in the Republic, their foreign spouses and underage children,

2) Persons legally residing in the Republic,

3) Persons allowed to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention,

4) Persons of any nationality who are allowed to enter the Republic after obtaining special permission from the Republic.

Categories 1 and 2 above will take a Covid test upon arrival in Cyprus with the cost covered by the Republic and they will remain at a location allocated by the Republic (with relevant costs for accommodation, transport etc covered by the Republic) for as long as is needed until test results come out. Irrespective of the test result, passengers will remain in self-isolation at their home for 14 days as per the relevant Health Ministry protocol.

Categories 3 and 4 above can:

i. if they will remain in the Republic for up to 4 days they can arrange for the test themselves 72 hours prior to departure from their country or take it upon arrival in Cyprus and pay for the cost of the test. If they choose to take the test in Cyprus they will remain at a location designated by the Republic at their own cost including transportation for one day or for as long as is required for their test results to come out. If they test negative they will follow precautionary measures to be provided by the Health Ministry. If they test positive they will enter quarantine and the relevant Health Ministry protocols will be activated, while the passengers themselves will follow safety measures to be provided by the Health Ministry.

ii. if they will remain in the Republic for more than 4 days they have the option to either take the test themselves 72 hours prior to departure and be taken to self-isolation for 14 days upon arrival or get tested upon arrival in Cyprus and pay for the test. If they choose the latter they will remain in an area designated by the Republic at their own cost, including transport, for one day or as long as required until their test results come out. Irrespective of the test result they will have to self-isolate for 14 days at a location designated by the Republic as per the Health Ministry’s protocols.

Phase B – Prerequisites

For Phase B, which starts on June 20, 2020, passengers flying in from category A countries will not need to show a test certificate. They will only have to provide certain information and solemn declarations.

Passengers flying in from Category B countries will need to:

• have undergone a test at a recognised lab within at least 72 hours prior to departure and hold a certificate that demonstrates a negative PCR for Covid-19.
• have provided certain information and solemn declarations.

Moreover, these categories of passengers:

1) Cypriot citizens, their foreign spouses and their underage children,

2) Legal residents in the Republic,

3) Persons entitled to enter the Republic as per the Vienna Convention,

4) Persons of any nationality who are allowed to enter the Republic following a special permit granted by the Republic,

5) Persons of any nationality who have demonstrated, and following an announcement by the Health Ministry of Cyprus, that the authorities of their Category A or B country of residence do not offer a lab testing service will have the option of taking the test upon their arrival in Cyprus and pay 60 euros for the cost of the test. In this instance, passengers will remain in self-isolation at their home or place of accommodation until their result comes out.

For countries not included in Categories A and B during the second phase of the gradual relaunch of flights starting on June 20, flights to and from Cyprus will be allowed.

However, like with Phase One, only the following passenger categories will be allowed to travel from Category C countries:

1) Cypriot citizens, their foreign spouses and underage children,

2) Persons legally residing in the Republic,

3) Persons allowed to enter the Republic in accordance with the Vienna Convention,

4) Persons of any nationality who are allowed to enter the Republic after obtaining special permission from the Republic.

The only difference compared to Phase One is that Categories 1 and 2 above will need to pay for the test themselves if they choose to do it upon arrival in Cyprus at the price of 60 euros.

Cyprus Flight Pass platform

In order to facilitate the process for passengers and airlines, Cyprus has put together the electronic platform Cyprus Flight Pass through which all passengers who wish to travel to Cyprus need to submit in advance all the required information and documents.

The use of the platform is obligatory for anyone who wishes to visit Cyprus. To be allowed to depart from their country, passengers will need to show an electronic approval that is provided by the Republic of Cyprus through the platform.

In the initial stages, passengers aged above 65, especially those not familiar with electronic mediums, or passengers who, for reasons they can substantiate, were not able to fill in the required forms electronically or in the case where the platform is temporarily unavailable for technical reasons or scheduled maintenance, will be allowed to complete by hand the required forms which they can find and print through the platform.

The platform also provides the following:

• Information on the platform’s services and criteria that need to be met to obtain travel approval
• Quick check by travellers that will inform them if they meet the criteria to travel to Cyprus
• Customer Service:
  • Creation of an account and user profile
  • Submission of personal details and upload of the required negative Covid health certificate
  • Check, approval/rejection of the claim and relevant confirmation sent to the passenger’s email.