Cyprus abolishes flight pass and country categorizations

Source: Announcements

As of April 18, 2022, travelers will no longer be required to fill out the Cyprus Flight Pass when entering Cyprus.  The move comes after tourist organizations called on the government to abolish the Flight pass, noting that Cyprus would be left behind other countries that had already made the move.  Moreover, the categorization of countries according to their epidemiological situation will no longer apply.

The new action plan hopes to encourage more visitors to the island and will contribute to the smoother operation of flights and the airports on the island. 

According to the announcement:

A. Categorization of countries:

As of April 18, 2022, countries will no longer be categorized according to their epidemiological status.

B. Cyprus Flight Pass - Cyprus Flight Pass:

From April 18, 2022, passengers entering Cyprus will no longer be obliged to complete the Cyprus Flight Pass and obtain approval for entry.

C. Conditions for entry into the Republic:

From 18 April 2022, for travel purposes in the Republic of Cyprus, passengers must meet the following conditions and bring with them the relevant supporting documents:

1. Vaccinated or Recovered passengers:

Vaccinated or Recovered passengers, regardless of nationality, will be able to travel and enter the Republic of Cyprus from any country of departure, without the need for a laboratory test, provided that one of the following conditions is met:

They hold a digital European or equivalent third country COVID-19 vaccination or recovery certificate, OR

They hold a valid vaccination certificate from the competent authorities of any third country, provided that the required doses of vaccine accepted by the Republic of Cyprus have been completed.

The vaccination certificate is considered acceptable only if all of the following conditions apply:

It has been issued by the public authorities of the country.

The vaccine is one of the following: Johnson & Johnson / Janssen, AstraZeneca, (Vaxzervia, COVISHIELD, SKBio), Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), Sinopharm (BBIBPCOVID-19), CovaVax, Corovax, Covaxin, Sputnik Light (booster dose only) and Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19.

-Passengers 18 years of age and older:

For travel purposes, passengers must have received both doses plus the booster dose (in case of a two-dose vaccine) or one dose plus the booster dose (in case of a single-dose vaccine) of one of the above vaccines within a period of 9 months.

-Passengers under 18 years of age:

For travel purposes, the passenger is considered to have completed his/her vaccination scheme if he/she has received the 2nd dose (in case of a dual-dose vaccine or the 1st dose in case of a single-dose vaccine.  With the exception of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, for which a period of 14 days must have elapsed between the dose of the vaccine and the date of travel, passengers may travel to the Republic of Cyprus immediately upon completion of the required doses of acceptable vaccines.

A digital European or equivalent third country recovery certificate is considered acceptable if all of the following conditions are met :

Issued by the public authorities of the states,
The travel date does not exceed 180 days from the first positive result.

For check-in purposes, passengers must present their vaccination certificate or recovery certificate in printed or electronic form.

It is noted that passengers who have been vaccinated or recovered in countries that have joined the EU COVID digital certification system are allowed to travel to the Republic of Cyprus only if they hold a valid European or equivalent COVID vaccination or recovery certificate from third countries.

2. Passengers who have not been vaccinated or who do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate:

Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, regardless of nationality, will be able to travel and enter the Republic of Cyprus from any country of departure, provided they meet one of the following conditions :

they have performed a PCR test 72 hours before departure, or
they have performed a rapid test 24 hours before departure.

Persons under the age of 12 are not required to submit and present a certificate of negative PCR or rapid test.

For control purposes, passengers 12 years of age and older who do not hold a vaccination or recovery certificate must present the results of their examination in printed or electronic form.

Self-test by passengers who do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or recovery (as described above) are not accepted for travel purposes in the Republic of Cyprus.

In the event of a spot check on arrival with either an RT-PCR test or a rapid antigen test, or both, all passengers must comply. In case of refusal, they will be quarantined for a period of 10 days, unless they undergo a PCR laboratory examination before the end of that period. The costs of quarantine and laboratory examination will be borne by the passenger.

Those who travel to the Republic of Cyprus must meet the above-mentioned conditions, whether through a vaccination certificate, a recovery certificate or a negative test certificate. Attempting to enter the Republic without meeting the above conditions constitutes an offense, according to the Out-of-Court Settlement Laws of 1997 to 2021, which provide for an extrajudicial fine of 300 euros.

It is also noted that until April 17, 2022, the existing measures at Larnaca and Paphos Airports remain in force and continue to be applied.