COVID19: Cyprus Flight Pass scrapped

Authorities are scrapping the Cyprus Flight Pass, with vaccinated passengers no longer required to take any action to board a flight to the island, while unvaccinated travellers are required to carry a negative 24-hour rapid test or 72-hour PCR test.

People who have recovered from COVID-19 within the past six months fall under the same category as the vaccinated. Therefore, the Cyprus Flight Pass will be ditched on April 18.

Vaccinated people must present proof of being vaccinated with an EU approved jab.

These are Johnson & Johnson / Janssen, AstraZeneca (Vaxzervia, COVISHIELD, SKBio), Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), Sinopharm (BBIBPCOVID-19), CovaVax, Sinovac (CoronaVac) Covaxin, Sputnik Light (only as a booster dose) and Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19.

Announcing the changes on Thursday, the Transport Ministry said that Cyprus would also be ditching its safe travel list, lifting quarantine and testing requirements upon arrival for unvaccinated passengers coming from high-risk countries.

Currently, Cyprus uses a three-coloured system (green, red, grey), with only unvaccinated passengers subjected to compulsory testing and restrictions according to their country of origin.

Unvaccinated travellers from countries slotted into the green category must take a PCR test within 72 hours or a rapid antigen test 24 hours before departure.

Red category passengers must abide by the same testing rules as green category countries but take a PCR test upon arrival at the airport.

Unvaccinated passengers from grey countries must carry a negative test, take a PCR upon arrival, and go into self-isolation for ten days or seven, provided they test negative with a PCR test.

Cyprus’ decision to scrap the Flight Pass requirement comes as tourism stakeholders pressured authorities to relax restrictions on travel, fearing losing out to rival destinations, which have essentially scrapped all COVID-19 entry requirements.