Flight Pass tantamount to Safe Pass for tourists in Cyprus

Air traffic at Larnaca and Paphos airports is picking up

After the lifting of the two-week snap lockdown on 10 May, Cypriots are allowed to visit cafes, restaurants, shopping malls, gyms, theatres and places of worship only with a Coronapass (officially referred to as Safe Pass). But in lieu of a Safe Pass, foreign tourists can use their Flight Pass obtained before arriving in Cyprus to move around freely on the island, visiting all the above places.

“The Cyprus Flight Pass will give (tourists) permission through email to travel to Cyprus, it will also be valid for their movement within the island,” Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios told the Cyprus Mail.

Must-do for all arrivals

Introduced after the pandemic outbreak in 2020 to monitor the spread of the coronavirus, Cyprus Flight Pass is being required from all arrivals, including Cypriots and permanent residents.

Passengers coming from abroad are obliged to complete their flight pass document well before touchdown, providing information about their travel history in the past 14 days. Depending on the country’s epidemiological situation and flight categorisation, they should either attach a negative coronavirus test(s), or show proof that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, or that they have contracted and recovered from the virus.

Arrivals from countries in the orange category must present a negative coronavirus test before their flight and also undergo a test at the airport. Visitors from green category countries only get tested at the airport.

Cyprus is open as a destination to 65 tourist markets, and vaccinated visitors have the additional advantage of not needing to undergo a coronavirus test upon arrival.

Like the good old times

Although far from the pre-pandemic figures for the season, activity at the island’s airports is going up with 60 flights to and from Larnaca and Paphos airports executed on Monday.

“At Larnaca airport, it is reminiscent of the good old times as on some days there has been an increased number of flights... But we’re still far from where we would have been under normal circumstances during a typical year,” Maria Kouroupi, senior director of aviation development of Hermes Airports, Cyprus international airports operator told CNA.

A total of 220 flights are expected this week, Kouroupi informed. She added that flights from the UK, the top tourist market for Cyprus, are expected to increase in June as British Airways and other airlines have begun adding flights to their schedule for that period.

Responding to fears about the risk of importation and exportation of Covid-19, Kouroupi pointed out that from last year up until April of 2021, the proportion of positive cases at the airports accounted for half a per cent of the total registered in Cyprus.