in-cyprus 22 May 2020 -Bouli Hadjioannou
Cyprus will re-open its airports in two stages, starting on June 9, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos announced on Friday after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Stage one will be from June 9 to 19. The second stage will start on June 20, he said. There are two groups of countries with different rules regarding arrivals.
In the first phase, all arrivals will need to have tested for coronavirus 72 hours before departure and have a certificate they do not have the virus.
Cypriots and permanent residents will be able to carry out the test in Cyprus and then self-isolate.
For phase two, no test will be required for group one of the countries. Group two will need to either test before or in Cyprus.
He also announced that hotels will reopen on June 1.
Moreover, quarantine for all arrivals will be abolished on May 25. All those currently in quarantine as well as others repatriating will be asked to self-isolate for a period that will depend on the country from which they came.
Karousos said, based on the advice of epidemiologists, that there are two groups of countries. Group one is made up of Greece, Malta, Bulgaria, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Israel, Denmark, Germany and Lithuania.
Group two is made up of Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Estonia and Czechia.
For countries not included on the above lists, flights will be permitted only for Cypriots and those with a special permit who will be allowed to enter but must have carried out the test. If not, they must do the test here, but must then quarantine.
