ATHENS – Still hoping vaccinations will work well enough to see tourists return this spring and summer, Greece for now has nevertheless kept its prohibition on international flights until March 22, and domestic flights until March 16, when a third COVID-19 lockdown is scheduled to lift.

But that also depends on well on other countries are dealing with the pandemic and whether they allow residents to travel, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ idea for COVID-19 passport certificates to be taken up by the European Union.

The decision has been announced by Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)) and was reported by SchengenVisa.Info which provides information about the visa-free travel area in the EU.

But Third Country Citizens in transit and applying for visas in countries not of their origin won’t be allowed in now while those coming from the European Union and the borderless area of Schengen will be eligible to enter Greece, the report said.

The CAA said all arrivals from Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Russia and Israel will be exempted.

But travelers from any foreign country, including EU Member States, will be obliged to follow a seven-day mandatory quarantine requirement to minimize the transmission of the deadly virus in the country.

All passengers arriving from other states will be checked upon their arrival based on the Passenger Locator form procedures. In case any person tests positive for the Coronavirus pandemic will be obliged to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine.