Press Releases

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announces that, during today’s meeting, the Council of Ministers approved the new Action Plan for the smooth operation of flights and the operation of airports. The new Action Plan enters into force on 1^st March 2022.

In particular, the new Action Plan provides the following:

A. Categorization of countries:

From 1^st March 2022, the categorization of countries, based on the epidemiological risk assessment, shall be modified and shall include three categories with the following colour code: Green, Red and Grey Category. It is clarified that, according to the new Action Plan, the Green and Orange Categories of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) correspond to the Green Category of the Republic of Cyprus, while the Red and Deep Red Categories correspond to the Red Category of the Republic of Cyprus.

B. Vaccinated or Recovered passengers:

1) Vaccinated passengers or passengers who have recovered from COVID-19, regardless of their nationality and country of departure, are exempted from the obligation to meet the requirements of the corresponding category (e.g. presentation of a negative laboratory test, obligation to self-isolation/quarantine, issuance of a special permit, etc.) of the country of departure. Vaccinated or recovered passengers may enter the Republic of Cyprus, provided that they fulfil one of the following conditions:

     i. They hold a valid certificate of vaccination issued by the competent Authorities of any third country.

    ii. They hold a certificate of recovery issued by a third country included in the list of third countries that have joined the EU Digital COVID Certificate System (EUDCC).

     iii. They hold a European or equivalent from third countries Digital COVID Vaccination or Recovery Certificate.

2) The vaccination or recovery certificate shall be considered acceptable, only if all of the following conditions apply:

• It has been issued by the public Authorities of the countries;
• Passengers have been vaccinated with one of the following: Johnson&Johnson/Janssen, AstraZeneca, (Vaxzervia, COVISHIELD, SKBio), Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), Sinopharm (BBIBPCOVID-19), Sinovac (CoronaVac), Covaxin, Sputnik Light (only as booster dose in basic vaccination scheme) and Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19.
• Passengers aged 18 and over: For travel purposes, the passenger should have received the booster/3^rd dose in the case of a two-dose vaccine or the 2^nd dose in the case of a single dose vaccine, of one of the above vaccines. The vaccination certificates of passengers who have received two doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose a single dose vaccine shall be accepted only if a period of 9 months has not elapsed since the administration of the second vaccine in the case of a two-dose vaccine or one dose in the case of a single dose vaccine, respectively.
• Passengers aged 18 and under: For travel purposes, the passenger is considered to have completed his/her vaccination scheme if he/she has received the 2^nd dose in the case of a two-dose vaccine or the 1^st dose in the case of a single dose vaccine.
• The time frame for travel purposes set by the Ministry of Health and posted on the CyprusFlightPass platform for each vaccine has expired.
• In the case of a certificate of recovery, the date of travel shall not exceed 180 days from the first positive result.

C. Passengers who are not vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19:

1) Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19, regardless of nationality, may enter the Republic of Cyprus from any country of departure, only if they meet the requirements of the corresponding category (i.e. presentation of negative laboratory test result, obligation for self-isolation/quarantine, issuance of a special permit, etc) of the country of departure.

2) Green Category: Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19, aged 6 and over, wishing to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a country of the Green Category, must undergo a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours prior to departure.

3) Red Category: Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19, aged 6 and over, wishing to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a country of the Red Category shall be required to:

• undergo a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours prior to departure, and
• undergo a PCR laboratory test upon arrival at the airports of the Republic of Cyprus. The cost is borne by the passenger.

4) Grey Category countries (Special Permission): For the Grey Category (Special Permission) countries, entry into the Republic of Cyprus is only allowed for the following categories of passengers:

• Cypriot citizens and family members (alien spouses and their underage children),
• Persons legally residing in the Republic,
• Persons entitled to enter the Republic under the Vienna Convention,
• European citizens and citizens of European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland,
• Third country nationals who are allowed to enter the Republic of Cyprus following a special permission through the platform CyprusFlightPass (https://cyprusflightpass.gov.cy/en/special-permission-request), issued by the Republic, as this is defined in the Quarantine Decree (N.9) of 2021, as this is modified each time.

Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19, aged 6 and over, who are allowed to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Grey Category country, shall be required to:

• undergo a PCR laboratory test within 72 hours prior to departure or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours prior to departure, and
• undergo a PCR laboratory test upon arrival at the airports of the Republic of Cyprus. The cost is borne by the passenger, and
• remain in mandatory self-isolation for a period of fourteen (14) days, or a period of seven (7) days provided that they undergo another PCR test at their own expense on the 7th day and the result comes back negative.
• regarding passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid certificate of vaccination or a valid certificate of recovery from COVID-19 and are domestic workers or any other kind of employees who have obtained in advance a special permit for working in the Republic by the competent Ministries and Departments, as well as workers in the agriculture/livestock sector, the previous decision of the Council of Ministers concerning the obligation to prepay and quarantine in tourist accommodation in the Republic of Cyprus shall cease to apply. It is understood, however, that the relevant requirements of the Grey Category will also apply to these passengers.

It is understood that all passengers with no exception must comply to a random laboratory test upon arrival.

The possibility of choosing laboratory testing upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus for Cypriot citizens including alien spouses and underage children, for persons legally residing in the Republic, and for persons entitled to enter the Republic under the Vienna Convention, ceases to apply.

It is reminded that all passengers are obliged to apply for the CyprusFlightPass within 48 hours before the departure of their flight.

(MPO/MG/MV)