As Greece prepares to reopen for foreign visitors in a bid to get its crucial tourism sector back on its feet, the government said Friday that flights from coronavirus hotspots such as Britain would not be allowed in, at least for now.
Tourism minister Harry Theoharis said that while regular international passenger flights would be allowed to take off and land again at the airports of Athens and Thessaloniki starting from Monday, the ban on arrivals from Britain will remain in place until July 1.
“Our goal is for Greece to remain a safe country, looking forward to the tourism season,” said health minister Vassilis Kikilias.
Greece has fared much better than other European countries in the COVID-19 pandemic. It locked down in March and has recorded fewer than 190 coronavirus deaths among its 11 million residents.
By contrast, Britain has seen more than 40,000 deaths and is the worst-hit country in Europe.
But with tourism accounting for 20 per cent of its gross domestic product and international travel virtually coming to a standstill as a result of the global lockdowns, Greece has been hard hit by the pandemic’s economic fallout.
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