Tourism to Spain’s Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca handed an Encouraging Boost as Greece Extends “Brit Ban”

The Greek government has announced that the ban on air travel between Britain and Greece will continue until June 30.

The UK was originally excluded from the first wave of countries allowed access to Greece from June 15.  Reports had then suggested Brits would be allowed in, subject to strict rules, including tests on arrival and an overnight stay at a hotel. The Spanish tourism sector welcomed the news as they hoped holidaymakers would choose Spain now instead.

Now tourism minister Harry Theoharis is reported to have told a televised presentation on Friday that holidaymakers from the UK will continue to be excluded from visiting Greece until June 30.

Theoharis as said: “The ban on passenger flights from Great Britain remains in place for the next two weeks.”

The extension is understood to follow the EU’s advice for travel restrictions on non-essential travel to stay in place until June 30. Officials in Greece said the decision had been made based on EU advice to open up borders in a ‘strictly coordinated’ way.

The tourist-dependent country had previously declared that regular passenger flights to its two main airports could restart in a “bridge phase” from 15-30 June. International air links would resume nationwide on 1 July, three months after restrictions were imposed to prevent the spread of the novel virus. “These were EU recommendations, we had to go along with them,” said a senior government source.

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