Greece Extends Ban On Air Traffic With 7 European Countries Over COVID-19 - Authorities

ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2020) Greece has extended the suspension of air traffic with Albania, Italy, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom introduced in late March over the epidemiological situation, the Greek Civil Aviation Authority said on Friday, adding that the temporary entry ban for non-European citizens also remains in force.

"To protect passengers and citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic, the suspension of all passenger flights to and from Greece to Italy, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands was extended until 23:59 [20:59 GMT] on May 31," the authority said in a statement, adding that the ban on air traffic with Albania, Turkey and North Macedonia was extended until June 14.

According to the statement, the arrival and departure of international flights until June 1 is allowed only at the Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. Domestic flights will be gradually resumed from May 18.

The temporary entry ban for non-European citizens will be in force until 23:59 on May 31, the authority added.

The ban does not apply to cargo flights, ambulance and humanitarian aid, return flights with crew members only, as well as state, emergency, military flights and those repatriating Greek citizens.

Meanwhile, the epidemiological situation in Greece is stabilizing, and the authorities started implementing their plan on easing COVID-19 restrictions on May 4.

So far, Greece has confirmed a total of 2,810 cases of the disease with 40 of them being registered over the past 24 hours, which is four times higher than the day before. The sharp increase is connected with the spread of infection in a gypsy village in central Greece, where 35 cases were detected. At the same time, the daily increase remains below 100 since April 21.

Meanwhile, four new fatalities have been reported over the past day, bringing the total death toll to 160.