The Cabinet approved on Thursday a new Action Plan for the smooth operation of flights and airports, which enters into force on 18 April, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announced.

As stated, the new Action Plan foresees the abolition of the categorisation of countries according to their epidemiological situation and the abolition of the obligation to complete and obtain the Cyprus Flight Pass.

In addition, for travel purposes in the Republic of Cyprus, passengers must meet the following requirements and carry the relevant supporting documents:

1. Passengers who have been vaccinated or have recovered from the disease and who have the following documents:

Vaccinated or Recovered passengers, irrespective of nationality, will be allowed to travel and enter the Republic of Cyprus from any state of departure without the requirement of a laboratory test, provided that one of the following conditions is met:

• They hold a digital European or third country equivalent 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 acceptable to the Republic of Cyprus have been completed.

The vaccination certificate shall be considered as acceptable only if all the following conditions are fulfilled:

• It has been issued by public authorities.
• The vaccine is one of 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 booster dose in a basic vaccination scheme) and Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19.
• Passengers aged 18 years and over: For travel purposes, the passenger must have received both the booster dose 3 in case of a bivalent vaccine or the booster dose 2 in case of a single dose, of one of the above vaccines, without an expiry date for the 3rd or 2nd dose respectively. Vaccination certificates for passengers who have received two doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a mono-dose vaccine shall only be accepted if a period of 9 months has not elapsed since the date of administration of the second dose in the case of a two-dose vaccine or the first dose in the case of a mono-dose vaccine, respectively.
• Passengers under 18 years of age: For travel purposes, a passenger is considered to have completed his/her vaccination schedule if he/she has received the 2nd dose in case of a two-dose vaccine or the single dose in case in case of an one-dose vaccine, without an expiry date of the 2nd or 1st dose respectively.
• With the exception of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, for which a period of 14 days must have elapsed between the administration of the vaccine dose and the date of travel, passengers may travel to the Republic of Cyprus immediately upon completion of the required doses of acceptable vaccines.

The digital European or third country equivalent digital certificate of recovery is considered acceptable if all the below conditions apply:

• It has been issued by public authorities,
• The date of travel does not exceed 180 days from the first positive result.

For control purposes on arrival, passengers must present their vaccination certificate or recovery certificate in paper or electronic form.

It is noted that passengers who have been vaccinated or recovered in countries that have joined the EU digital COVID certificate system are allowed to travel to the Republic of Cyprus only if they hold a valid European digital or third country equivalent COVID-19 vaccination or recovery certificate as proof of validation.

2. Passengers who have not been vaccinated or 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 their nationality, will be allowed to travel to and enter the Republic of Cyprus from any state of departure if they meet one of the following conditions:

• they have had a laboratory molecular test (RT-PCR) carried out 72 hours prior to departure; or
• have had an antigen rapid test carried out 24 hours before departure.

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

For screening purposes, passengers, aged 12 years and over, who do not hold a vaccination or recovery certificate shall be required to present a paper or electronic copy of their test result.

It is clarified that self-tests from passengers who do not hold a valid vaccination or recovery certificate (as described above) are not acceptable for travel purposes in the Republic of Cyprus.

It is noted that in the case of random testing on arrival by either RT-PCR or rapid antigen test or both, all passengers without exception must comply. If they refuse, they will be placed in state quarantine for a period of 10 days unless they undergo a PCR laboratory test before the end of this period. The costs of quarantine and laboratory testing will be borne by the passenger.

It is also stressed that all persons travelling to the Republic of Cyprus must meet the above-mentioned requirements whether it is a vaccination certificate, a recovery certificate or a negative test certificate. Attempting to enter the Republic without satisfying the above conditions constitutes an offence, which provide for a fine of EUR 300.

Finally, it is noted that until 17 April the existing measures remain in force and are applied at Larnaca and Paphos Airports.