Greece Extends Travel Quarantine Requirements Until Reopening

On Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced guidelines for international travel to Greece, including quarantine requirements, in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

More specifically, the CAA made restrictions known through a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM),  which outlined that the restrictions on international travel have officially been extended until the 14th of May at 6:00 AM.

Greece’s current entrance restrictions

Travel into Greece is still prohibited until the 14th of May for the majority of passengers, unless travelers meet some of the following criteria.

Travel continues to be allowed for those that can prove they are travelling for essential reasons, as well as those that are permanent residents of the European Union or countries part of the Schengen treaty.

Additionally, permanent residents of the following twelve nations are also now allowed to enter Greece: the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Rwanda, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Serbia, and Israel.

Quarantine requirements upon entry into Greece

All other travelers entering Greece are still expected to quarantine for seven days at their residence or temporary housing, which should be the address included on their Passenger Locator Form (PLF). However, permanent residents of the nations listed above are not required to quarantine.

Those travelers who want to avoid a seven day quarantine requirement must be able to present to authorities one of two documents. They must carry either the results of a coronavirus PCR test taken within the past 72-hour period, or a public health certificate written in English guaranteeing that they have been fully inoculated.

In this case, fully vaccinated means that fourteen days have passed since their final vaccination.

More airports open to Russian travelers

Russian travelers, however, will require both a negative PCR test and a certificate of inoculation upon arrival to Greece in order to skip the seven-day quarantine period. Their vaccination must have been completed at least 14 days prior to their travel, the CAA notes.

A weekly limit of 4,000 arrivals of Russian citizens has been set. Nonetheless, Russian citizens will now be able to enter Greece through nine different airports, instead of the three which are currently open to them (Athens, Thessaloniki and Herakleion), as long as they also present the above-mentioned documents.

The new airports to include direct flights to and from Russia are Corfu, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Chania.

Passenger Locator Form (PLF)

Another requirement of all those traveling either to or from Greece, including permanent residents of Greece, is a QR code generated by the completion of the PLF. The PLF, which can be filled out electronically, includes details about where travelers have been staying and the address at which they plan to spend their time in Greece.

The PLF must also be filled out the day before passengers leave or enter Greece, and must include flight information.

Quarantine requirements to enter Greece will likely be fully lifted following the full reopening of the country on May 15th — just in time for the tourism season!