Israelis return to Flights today: We can fly to Bulgaria Croatia and Greece

The outline of the open sky for the return of civilian flights went into operation this morning (Sunday), but the road to the next vacation is still very far. A lot of hopes were hung on the deadline for the opening of the sky and the possibility of returning and flying - August 16th.
Technically, the sky is not really closed to flights to and from Israel. Flights still appear on the airport's flight schedule and in fact they never stopped. However, the series of conditions that restrict passengers have made this activity extremely limited. Not only a ban on entry to Israel for passengers who do not have an Israeli passport or those who have been granted entry, but also a long line of countries that have closed their gates to the citizens of our red state. Even Israeli citizens who traveled abroad have so far been forced to stay in solitary confinement for two weeks or under other restrictive conditions upon their return to Israel.
The first conditions for an outline that will allow a return to flight activity were published by the Airports Authority exactly three months ago - on May 17. The document, in which the "blue character" was first presented, set out a series of guidelines and steps that will be taken to ensure the possibility of maintaining a flight routine with limited health risk. Towards the end of that month, when optimism swept the country, contacts were also maintained with Montenegro, Austria and Germany, after Cyprus and Greece announced that Israelis would be allowed to enter them.
Over the past few months, in parallel with the struggle to take over and moderate the contagion curve, the Corona Cabinet has continued to explore ways to allow return flights. Last month, the Ministries of Transportation, Health and Foreign Affairs were instructed to work on an outline that would allow the sky to open, each in its own field and in cooperation - which led to the current outline.
The outline of the flights is a series of conditions agreed between the Ministries of Health, Transportation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to which departure from Israel will be allowed, and entry will be allowed to countries that will agree to accept passengers from Israel under certain restrictions.
Conditions vary depending on the destination of the flight and the agreements with the relevant country. Passengers will be required to perform a corona test 72 hours before the flight (or less, depending on the destination), complete a health declaration, perform a second test upon arrival at the destination, stay in isolation until receiving the second test results and more.
Conditions may vary from country to country according to the agreements reached by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and may change later. Those returning from the countries included in the outline will not have to remain in isolation upon their return to Israel.
The flight schedule in the field lists a variety of destinations, from New York to Moscow, Munich, Zurich, Paris and Addis Ababa - but the question is where entry will be allowed upon arrival at the destination. Mainly because in the "green" countries, where the morbidity rate is low, you will be directed back to the next plane leaving for Israel, unless you hold a European passport. According to the outline that has been agreed and will take effect from today, it will be possible to fly to Bulgaria, Croatia and four destinations in Greece (Athens, Krupo, Crete and Thessaloniki), with a limit of 600 tourists in total.
The list of destinations will be updated every two weeks, mainly due to the need to measure the effects of the possibility of leaving and entering the countries. It can be assumed that according to these consequences, other countries will examine their willingness to "risk" the income of tourists from Israel. On the agenda at the moment: Cyprus and Hungary.
The flight booking process is the same as it was before the Corona period. The difference will be in the health process that you will be asked to take even before you reach the field. This is a corona examination, which only upon presentation and completion of a health declaration will you be allowed to continue the check-in process. Entry to the airport will only be allowed for passengers during the four hours prior to the flight, and no escorts will be allowed to enter. Each passenger will be asked to update the travel details on the Ministry of Health website within a period of 24 hours before the flight.
Those flying to Greece will be required to check before the flight without specifying the minimum period of time (but of course provided a result is obtained). Flights to Bulgaria will be required to be checked 72 hours before the flight. For flights to Croatia the time period is 48 hours.
The planes will be disinfected after each flight of six hours or more, and in any case will be disinfected every 24 hours. Passengers are required to stay with masks throughout the flight, air crew services will be kept to a minimum, as well as food and beverage service during the flight.
Upon landing at the destination, passengers will be asked to present their health statement and corona test results. In Greece, passengers will be asked to perform another corona test, after which they will stay in isolation until the results are obtained. Travelers to Croatia and Bulgaria will not be required to conduct additional checks upon entry into the country.
Before returning to Israel, the landers will fill out a health declaration on the website of the Ministry of Health, which they will present at the airport in the country where they were staying and landing in Israel. Passengers returning from the three destinations included in the outline will be exempt from the obligation of isolation back to Israel.
Exemption from the obligation to isolate passengers who return from countries that are defined as "green" in the list published on the Ministry of Health website, and currently includes: Austria, Latvia, Germany, Georgia, Estonia, Italy, UK, Finland, Jordan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, Rwanda, Denmark , Hungary, Cyprus and Slovenia. Those flying with a stopover (connection) in a red state, will not be required for isolation as long as they have not left the airport area.
The outline of the open sky is a line and a progression from the situation we have been in so far. In some ways, however, the road is still a long way off. When flights abroad are an influential factor in everything related to the business world - the open destinations at this stage are far from meeting this need. The impact on the inbound tourism industry will also be nil if at all.
When it comes to the periods of time before the flight, there is no limit to staying at conventions or places and events where the passenger may get infected and discover it only when arriving at the destination country or even staying there. Also, in Greece, which requires isolation until the answer is received for a test that takes place on landing - it is not clear how the passenger will arrive at the hotel where he will stay in isolation.
Another problem lies in the field of testing itself. The position of the Ministry of Health is that the tests are a national resource, the referral for their performance is obtained from the family doctor and only under certain symptoms or conditions. Private tests that cost hundreds to thousands of shekels, depending on the urgency of getting the results, will turn a family vacation into a significantly higher-than-usual expense.