By Evie Andreou and Bejay Browne
The UK Jet2 airline announced on Wednesday it was suspending its flights to Cyprus up to mid-August citing prohibitive entry restrictions.
The airline said in a written statement that it had no choice but to suspend their flights and holidays programme to Larnaca and Paphos up to and including August 16.
The news came just days before the UK was placed into category B countries on August 1 which would allow British travellers into Cyprus, provided they had a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure. Jet2 and TUI have been pressuring Cyprus for weeks to place the UK into category A where no tests are needed.
“We urge the Cypriot authorities to review the entry criteria in line with other destinations, so that our customers can enjoy their well-deserved holidays,” the airline said in a tweet.
The entry criteria had been the source of much confusion and frustration for travellers as they struggled to work out what exactly the hoops they had to jump through were to avoid a 300 euro fine or being sent back home. A main issue was whether the test available from Britain’s NHS would contain the correct information to satisfy the Cypriot authorities or whether only pricey private tests would suffice.
The airline said that it would contact passengers affected by any programme changes to discuss options such as rebooking, a credit note or a full cash refund.
It said that, as regards customers who are due to travel to Cyprus from August 17 onwards, “we are continuing to liaise with the authorities of Cyprus, and we will provide further updates in due course.”
Tourists who were expecting to fly this weekend took to Twitter to vent their fury at the last-minute cancellations.
“Yesterday you advised that holiday was still going ahead & tests were our responsibility like vaccinations. £600 & 4 covid tests later & you cancel our flight with 3 days to go. FCO advice is OK to fly. Situation unchanged today. Just not cricket,” was one of the comments on Twitter by a Jet2 customer.
In Paphos meanwhile, hoteliers, desperate for British visitors expressed their own frustration that the government will not allow passengers from category B countries to take coronavirus tests on arrival in Cyprus.
They claim that the government is also backtracking on a previous consensus to offer tourists a free test on arrival.
“I am shocked that the government announced that they will not allow arrivals in Cyprus to have the test here. On Tuesday they announced they will have to have tests before they can come and this is a U-turn on previous agreements with hoteliers,” Euripides Loizides, the spokesman of the Paphos hoteliers told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, hoteliers said an agreement had been reached with the government to share the costs of the Covid-19 tests to be taken when tourists arrive at either Larnaca or Paphos airports.
The government, however, never officially stated such an agreement had been reached.
Social media is awash with would-be travellers to Cyprus, in particular the British market, frustrated at the difficulties they are facing in obtaining a coronavirus test in the UK, along with the necessary requirements that go with it to gain entry.
“The hoteliers had previously discussed with the government that we would split the cost of arrivals testing at our airports and refund travellers their test money. This was pre-agreed and as cost came down, it seemed we (hotels) would pay 20 euros and the government the other 20 euros,” Loizides said.
Loizides said that he couldn’t understand why the government had decided not to allow visitors to Cyprus to take a test at the airport, as this would not be a risk to safety and encourage people to fly to Cyprus.
The latest information from the health ministry and confirmed to the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday is that visitors from category B countries must:
– Present a negative, PCR coronavirus test not more than 72 hours old. The 72 hours count from the time the sample is taken. The test certificate must include the date the sample was taken, full name and confirm the negative result, and the type of the test (RT-PCR Covid-19). NHS test results are only accepted if the above-mentioned information is included.)
– Test results should include the necessary information and be presented to the authorities in printed form or electronically. Text messages (SMS) will ONLY be accepted if they include full name, date of the sample was taken, type of the test and confirmation of the negative result.
– Children up to 12 are not required to take the test.
– All passengers, regardless of the category of the country they are arriving from, are required to apply for CyprusFlightPass (
– People arriving from category B countries do not have to self-isolate when they arrive in Cyprus but in the case they present coronavirus symptoms they are urged to seek medical advice.
On Tuesday, the ministry of transport also announced that a help desk to support the electronic platform ‘CyprusFlightPass’ will be operational as of August 1.
The help desk will handle queries both by telephone at the number: +(357) 24841234 and in writing through the e-platform via the link: https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/contact-us
The hours of operation of the help desk will be:
Monday-Friday 08:00- 22:00 Cyprus time
Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 Cyprus time
