ATHENS – In another encouraging sign that vaccinations are beating back the COVID-19 pandemic and tourists will start pouring in, Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority to allow travelers to take rapid tests.

The guidelines will be in place until June 26 for now and could be updated has has happened frequently with the New Democracy government eager to lure more tourists to help an economy battered by lockdowns.

Travel into Greece without the need to quarantine on arrival is permitted only from the European Union and the Schengen area but exempted are people coming in from Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Israel, Kuwait, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Qatar Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.

All travelers coming into Greece must submit a passenger locator form (PLF) at https://travel.gov.gr by the eve of their arrival and have one of the three following documents: an official vaccination certificate, stating that 14 days have passed since full vaccination for Covid-19; a negative PCR test (in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Russian) performed less than 72 hours before arrival or a negative rapid test performed less than 48 hours before arrival; or a recovery certificate (in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish or Russian) stating the person in question has recovered from the coronavirus in the past nine months, said Kathimerini.