Some 20 airlines have so far included Cyprus in their schedules, with most starting flights in July, a senior official for the company which operates Larnaca and Paphos airports told CNA on Thursday.
Maria Kouroupi, senior marketing and communications manager at Hermes Airports, said that this was the “initial scheduling of the airlines”.
Cyprus reopens its airports in two stages, on June 9 and June 20. All arrivals from June 9 to 20 must have a Covid-19 free certificate 72 hours prior to departure, but from June 20 there will be no travel restrictions for arrivals from a group of 13 countries. Arrivals from group B (currently six countries) will require the certificate.
Kouroupi said that some companies were starting flights to Cyprus in June, mainly after June 20, though some airlines offering flights to and from Greece will start on June 9.
Hermes Airports is in touch with all the airlines that flew to Cyprus before the coronavirus pandemic. “A lot will depend on the epidemiological situation in the airlines’ countries and in Cyprus,” she said.
A number of countries still have travel advisories discouraging citizens from travelling in the summer, others have restrictions, she added.
“There is an evolving assessment of the situation in all the countries and the airlines’ flight schedules will be adapted accordingly,” she said.
Currently category A countries are:
Malta
Greece
Bulgaria
Norway
Austria
Finland
Slovakia
Hungary
Israel
Denmark
Germany
Slovenia
Lithuania
Category B Countries
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Poland
Romania
Croatia
Estonia
