Greece will begin taking direct flights from the UK starting July 15th according to news from the tourism ministry. At a press event on Monday, Government Spokesperson Stelios Petsas announced the complete resumption of travel between Greece and the UK.
As of Friday, the week before, the UK announced Greece as one of the countries on a list of those allowed to travel to Britain without quarantine. Greece had not been on the list previously.
Greece is a favorite destination of UK travelers, and British tourists figure largely in the industry the Greek depend so heavily on.
Greece is exempt from the FCO advice against non-essential international travel. However, a ban on non-stop flights was recently extended, which made holidays more difficult. Now airlines will be able to restart services, just in time for the second half of summer.
The move by Greece could mean a relative travel boom compared with competing destinations like Malta, which still has strict travel regulations in place.
The ban was initially extended because of the UK’s poor coronavirus record, which currently has 241,196 active cases. By comparison, Greece has managed to control the coronavirus pandemic with 1,953 active cases currently.