Cyprus is now ready to welcome travelers from various countries, after having successfully dealt with the Covid-19 epidemic.
According to a statement from Cyprus government, “Cyprus lifts travel bans for 56 countries.
After a year of great uncertainty for all of us, in which the travel and tourism industries have been hit more than any other across the world, it has become increasingly apparent that we must look forward and do everything we can to restart international travel, at the earliest opportunity.
For the case of Cyprus, this essentially means stabilizing our skies, and maintaining a constant flow of air connectivity to the island, whilst at the same time safeguarding public health. As such, the Cyprus Government has prepared an updated protocol for travel and tourism, which comes into effect in early 2021. The two main changes are as follows.
1. Firstly, it includes a list of 56 countries which are given relaxations for travel to Cyprus:
– EU member states
– European Economic Area states (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Lichtenstein)
– Third countries featured on the EU Council Recommendation document (EU 2020/912 of 30 June 2020, on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction)
– United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Belarus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
2. Secondly, it includes a new categorization system, which is harmonized in accordance to ECDC standards, both in color-marking of categories as well as country evaluation.
The color-marked categories, and their respective entry requirements to Cyprus, are shown in the table below.
All of the above comes into effect on 15″ January. which marks the beginning of a transitional period extending up to and including February 28″. During this period, countries will be categorized as either Green, Orange, Red or Grey. They will move between categories based on their epidemiological state, and their evaluation will continue to be done exclusively by the Cyprus government.
From 1st March onwards, the 56 countries mentioned above will be exempt from Category Grey, and will thus only move between categories Green, Orange and Red. Their categorization will be done based on ECDC evaluations, rather than our own: only in the case where a country is absent from ECDC lists, will it need to be evaluated separately by the Cyprus government. These new features of our protocol have been introduced with the traveler in mind, because we felt it was important for Cyprus to offer Clarity, stability and travel certainty.
At this point, we also wish to reaffirm our commitment, to the safety of everybody who chooses Cyprus as their destination of choice. As announced a few months ago, we will continue to take care of all travelers who test positive for coronavirus during their stay, as well as their close contacts. Specifically, the government will transfer these persons to separate facilities, covering the cost of lodging, food, drink, and medication.
To conclude, we are very hopeful that our new way of operation for 2021 will offer some much needed stability to airlines, thus kick-starting the recovery of our travel and tourism sector. We
want to thank you all for your collaboration during this incredibly challenging year, the next one will not be without its own challenges, so our close collaboration will be required in
abundance once again. Until then, stay safe, stay strong, stay positive, and enjoy some time with your families during the upcoming festive season”.
