Greece Updates Directive for Flights from Sweden, Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) on Thursday issued an aviation directive (NOTAM), providing updated information on passenger flights to Greece from Sweden, Turkey, Albania and North Macedonia, as part of the preventive measures taken to limit the further spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) virus.

According to the NOTAM, the temporary suspension of flights:

– from and to Sweden has been extended until Sunday, July 19 (23:59pm), and
– from and to Turkey has been extended until Friday, July 31 at midnight.

The temporary suspension of flights from/to Sweden and Turkey excludes cargo flights, sanitary flights, humanitarian flights, aircraft return flights only with its crew (ferry flights), state flights, emergency flights, military flights (except to and from Turkey), Frontex flights, fire fighting flights, landings for technical reasons without passenger disembarkation, National Health System support flights and repatriation flights of Greek citizens.

Flights from Albania and North Macedonia

The NOTAM says that due to the rise of Covid-19 cases in Albania and North Macedonia, all flights to Greece from the two countries are permitted to land only at Athens International Airport (AIA) and are banned from all other airports in Greece until July 31 (23:59).

Non-EU nationals

The aviation directive also extends the ban of entry to Greece by non-EU nationals until July 31.

However, the following 12 countries, which are on the EU’s “safe” list and allowed to enter Europe, are excluded from the NOTAM: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

It is noted that Montenegro and Serbia have been dropped from the EU’s “safe” list due to the outbreak of Covid-19 cases in both countries.

Passenger Locator Form (PLF)

The NOTAM also informs that all travelers to Greece can fill out the mandatory Passenger Locator Form (PLF) one day before arrival as of July 16 and through to August 31.

The directive notes that before accepting passengers for boarding, all airlines must check:

a) that the PLF, which is a mandatory travel document, has been submitted at least the day before the flight.

b) the e-mail correspondence that contains each passenger’s QR code and PLF.

“Airlines that do not comply with these mandatory checks will be responsible for the repatriation of passengers at the company’s expense,” the NOTAM says.

According to the HCAA, testing for Covid-19 will be carried out based on Health Ministry, National Public Health Organization (EODY) and General Secretariat for Civil Protection guidelines.

The PLF form can be found here and is also available on the Visit Greece app.

For information on traveling to Greece in the post-Covid-19 era, press here and/or here.