Russian authorities may this week announce the resumption of international flights to France, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt and China's Shanghai, the Izvestia newspaper cited unnamed airport and airline sources as saying on Monday.

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and other countries’ decisions that residents returning from holidays in certain destinations must quarantine – or even the prospect of such a measure – are leading Greek tourism to an early shutdown.

Norway said on Wednesday it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all people arriving from Britain, Austria, Greece and Ireland from Aug. 22 due to rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in those countries.

Finland says it will tighten travel restrictions and reintroduce and step up border checks for arrivals from 10 countries starting Monday due to the worsening pandemic situation in Europe and elsewhere.

Teams of doctors and health professionals from the Region of Attica will set up a permanent centre at the port of Piraeus to run tests on returning holidaymakers, in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

The General secretariat for Civil Protection reminded returning holidaymakers to maintain social distancing and avoid contact with vulnerable people in an emergency text send out to mobile phones on Monday afternoon as authorities step up measures to tackle the rising number of coronavirus infections.

Wary of a rise in daily coronavirus cases that threatens to undo its relative success in containing the pandemic so far, the Greek government is imposing local restrictions on businesses, especially those that cater to big crowds, and business owners on the island of Mykonos don't like it one bit.

I’m reading “Flights,” by Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, which is an ode to travel.

A crew member checks the body temperature of travelers boarding a ship in the port of Piraeus Friday, as Greeks set off for Saturday’s August 15 national holiday, the traditional peak in terms of people mobility in the summer. Trips to the Greek islands are carried out with all the precautionary measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. August 15, which celebrates the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, is considered a kind of summer Easter for Greeks. Churches and monasteries have been urged to stick to the strict health guidelines. Meanwhile, a temporary change of weather is forecast in the late afternoon in northern Greece with rain and storms. [Alexandros Vlachos/EPA]

A new notice to airmen issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday extends travel bans with Balkan and European countries through August 31, to protect passengers and residents of Greece from a rise in new coronavirus cases.

Italy ordered travellers arriving from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain to be tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday and added Colombia to a list of countries under a complete travel ban amid growing concern over new infections.

Quarantine is now mandatory in the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Campania for travelers returning from Greece, Spain and Malta, as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to Italian media reports on Wednesday. 

Dozens of foreign nationals trying to travel with forged documents have been arrested by police conducting passport checks at Kalamata Airport in southern Greece. 

Visitors to Greece arriving from Sweden, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic will need proof they have tested negative for the novel coronavirus to gain entry, the government said on Monday.

A ferry boat is docked at the island of Paros with holidaymakers on board. The month of August is traditionally the time most Greeks go on vacation. [Pantelis Saitas/ANA-MPA]

Americans planning to travel to Greece may want to “reconsider” their plans, the US State Department said in an advisory published on Thursday, following a rise in coronavirus cases over the past few days.

Some 200,000 passengers passed through the gates of Cyprus’ two airports in July, according to Hermes, the operator of Larnaca and Paphos international airports. 

The airports serving the islands of the southern Aegean welcomed 243,530 travelers from the restart of the tourist season on July 1 to the end of the month, data released on Tuesday have shown.

 

A total of 80 foreign nationals were arrested between July 27 and August 2 at the international airport of Iraklio on Crete and charged with using forged travel documents. 

Passengers wait to board a ferry at the port of Piraeus, at the start of the peak of the Greek holiday season, on Saturday. An estimated 355,099 passengers left the country’s main port for the Aegean islands last month. Ferries are operating at 60% capacity, while passengers are obliged to wear masks inside the ferries due to coronavirus-related restrictions. Tourism officials advise travelers to arrive at the port at least an hour before departure. [AP]