Dozens of airlines have decided to stop serving Minsk, after EU leaders said they would be imposing sanctions on Belarus over the forced landing of Ryanair flight FR 4978 out of Athens on Sunday.
Greece is calling on the EU to take action against Belarus after the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger jet in Minsk on May 23 and the arrest of a dissident journalist.
The first privately owned aircraft of the newly formed Greek airline company "Ellinair" of Mouzenidis Travel landed at Thessaloniki International Airport "Macedonia" on 12 December.
Early bookings to Greek destinations have increased 400 percent especially from the markets of Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus, according to data released recently by tour operator Mouzenidis Travel, one of the largest Greek companies working with the Russian market.
The lifting of cabotage restrictions should take place immediately following a dialogue with all agencies involved until the end of May, Prime Minister Yiorgos Papandreou announced during the recent 18th general assembly of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
