Greece updates aviation directive (NOTAM)

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday issued an aviation directive (NOTAM), regarding flights from Sweden, Turkey, Albania and North Macedonia.

According to the NOTAM, flights have been banned to and from Sweden until Sunday, July 19 (23:59pm), and banned to and from Turkey until Friday, July 31 (midnight).

There are exceptions including: cargo flights, sanitary flights, humanitarian flights, aircraft return flights only with its crew (ferry flights), state flights, emergency flights, military flights (except to and from Turkey), Frontex flights, fire fighting flights, technical landings (flights that have technical damage without the need to disembark the passengers), National Health System support flights and approved repatriation flights of Greek citizens.

Due to the rise of coronavirus cases in Albania and North Macedonia, the NOTAM states that all flights from these two countries to Greece are only allowed to land at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. They are banned from all other airports in Greece until July 31.

The EU has also updated its coronavirus ‘safe travel list’: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

It must be noted that Serbia and Montenegro are no longer on the list due to the outbreak of Covid-19 cases in both countries.

All passengers arriving in Greece must fill in a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) at least a day before arrival, providing information that will include their departure airport, the address where they will be staying and the expected duration of their stay in Greece, among others. The information on the form is a key element of the country’s planning for protection against the pandemic and preventing the spread of the virus.

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority stressed that before accepting passengers for boarding, airlines must check:

• the PLF submission confirmation at least the day before the flight, which is a mandatory travel document
• the correspondence with the QR code and the PLF

Airlines that do not comply with this control obligation will be responsible for the repatriation of passengers at the expense of the company.