Press Releases

As of 21^st February 2022, the new Action Plan for the smooth operation of flights and the operation of airports enters into force, following a decision of the Council of Ministers. For the transitional period from 21^st to 28^th February 2022, all passengers arriving at Larnaka and Paphos Airports will be required to undergo a PCR laboratory test upon arrival, and the cost shall be borne by themselves.

In addition, the Council of Ministers decided that the conditions for each category as set out in point C.2. below (passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, regardless of nationality) apply to persons aged 12 years and over, and not 6 years and over, as previously announced.

It is recalled that the new Action Plan provides for:

A. Categorisation of countries:

As of 21^st February 2022, the categorisation of countries on the basis of their epidemiological risk is differentiated and will include three categories with the following colour code: Green, Red and Grey Category. 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 categories Red and Deep Red of the EUDCC correspond to the Red Category of the Republic of Cyprus.

B. Vaccinated or Recovered passengers:

1) Vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 passengers, regardless of 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 result, obligation for self-isolation/quarantine, issuance of a special permit, etc.), in which the country of their departure has been categorised. Vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 passengers may enter the Republic of Cyprus provided that they fulfil one of the following conditions:

             i.        They hold a valid vaccination certificate from the competent authorities of any third country, or

            ii.        They hold a certificate of vaccination or recovery issued by a third country, which is included in the third countries that have joined the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate System (EUDCC) (https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/commission-implementing-decisions-eu-equivalence-covid-19-certificates-issued-non-eu-countries_en), or

           iii.        They hold a Digital COVID-19 Certificate of Vaccination or Recovery by the European Union including the European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland (EUDCC).

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

• It has been issued by the public authorities of the countries;
• 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), 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 also have received the booster 3rd 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 abovementioned vaccines. The vaccination certificates of passengers who have received two doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single dose vaccine shall be accepted only if a period of 9 months has not elapsed since the administration of the 2^nd dose in the case of a two-dose vaccine or one dose in the case of a single dose vaccine, respectively.
• Passengers under the age of 18: 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 one 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 elapsed.
• In the case of a recovery certificate, the journey date shall not exceed 180 days from the first positive result.

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

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

2) Green Category: Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 years and over, wishing to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Green Category country, are required to 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 vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 and over, wishing to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Red Category country must:

• 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 of the test shall be borne by the passenger.

4) Grey Category (Special License): From the countries of the Grey Category (Special Permission), only the following categories of passengers are allowed to enter the Republic of Cyprus:

• 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 (Determination of Measures to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus) Decree (No. 9) of 2021, as this is modified each time.

Passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, aged 12 and over, who are allowed to travel to the Republic of Cyprus from a Grey Category country, must:

• 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 of the test shall be borne by the passenger; and
• remain in mandatory self-isolation for a period of ten (10) days, or a period of seven (7) days provided that they undergo a PCR laboratory test or a rapid antigen test, at their own expense, on the 7^th day and the result comes back negative.
• Regarding passengers who have not been vaccinated or do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate, in the case of 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 in the case of 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.

Regarding the categorisation of countries in the corresponding category of the CyprusFlightPass online platform, it is noted that:

1.    For the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland, the categorization of the Ministry of Health on the CyprusFlightPass online platform will continue to be based upon the categorisation set by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the colour map, which will be drawn up and published on a weekly basis by the ECDC.

Regarding the member states of the European Union, the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Switzerland which will be included in the grey colour on the colour map, which implies that the ECDC has not been provided with sufficient information and it is therefore not possible for ECDC to assess these countries, the Ministry of Health will continue to assess them and decide for their categorisation on the CyprusFlightPass online platform.

In any case, the categorisation of these countries will range from green to red category.

2.  For the third countries included in the updated list of the Council Recommendation dated 30.6.2020, as well as for the United Kingdom, Israel, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Serbia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United States of America, Armenia, Georgia, Canada, Kuwait, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Oman, Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino and Andorra, the weekly evaluation and categorisation on the CyprusFlightPass online platform will continue to be carried out by the Ministry of Health.

In any case, these third countries will be categorised by the Ministry of Health, in a similar way to the EU/EEA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway (European Economic Area) and Switzerland, from Green to Red Category.

3. Third countries that are not included in paragraph 2, will not be categorised by the Ministry of Health and will be automatically categorised in the Grey Category (Special Permission).

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 with no exception are obliged to apply for the CyprusFlightPass within 48 hours before the departure of their flight.

(NG/MV/MPO/SCH)