Tickets for repatriation flights from the UK to Cyprus will cost €320 plus taxes, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos announced on Wednesday.
The minister told state broadcaster CyBC TV that after consultations with air carriers for the arrangement of charter flights, this was the lowest fare the government was able to secure for repatriation flights from the UK.
On whether a lower price could be secured, Karousos said that this fare was calculated based on that planes cannot reach more than two thirds of their passenger capacity due to safety measures against the spread of coronavirus.
He also said that planes will fly empty to the UK to pick up passengers.
Karousos said there will be flights from London and Manchester and possibly from Scotland so that passengers will not have to travel long distances to catch a plane home.
As regards Greece, Karousos said tickets have been set to €150 plus taxes, both for departures from Athens and Thessaloniki.
Karousos reiterated that the ticket costs will be borne by passengers themselves.
The government clarified this week that people abroad wishing to return home would have to pay for their repatriation flights, except where the flight is provided free of charge by airlines or other agencies and in cases where the Republic has sent people abroad for medical reasons.
The state will cover the cost of the mandatory 14-day quarantine of those repatriated and of the Covid-19 tests they will have to undergo. The state is able to quarantine around 2,000 people every 14 days.
Until Monday, around 7,500 Cypriot citizens had asked to be repatriated through the electronic platform launched by the state last week. Around 6,100 of them were students.
Priority for repatriation will be given to students and non-students who belong in vulnerable groups and students living in university halls who are registered on foundation courses and those in their first year of undergraduate studies.
Other beneficiaries will follow according to when they expressed interest for repatriation on the foreign ministry’s platform. This concerns Cypriot citizens including students, those legally residing in the Republic of Cyprus and people who have the right to enter the Republic based on the Vienna convention.
