Tourists are back in Greece after the country has eased its lockdown and allowing international flights to land at their airports.

Footage from June 15 shows planes and tourists arriving at Thessaloniki’s Alexander the Great Airport.

Greece Restarts Tourist Season as Athens, Thessaloniki Airports Open - First International Flight After Lockdown Arrives in Greece Airports |
Greece is officially open to tourists as of Monday, with the first international flights carrying tourists for Summer 2020 arrives to fanfare at Thessaloniki’s Alexander the Great Airport. Life seems to be slowly but surely going back to normal once again, first flight to officially kick off the tourist season in Northern Greece arrived today, at high noon at the Alexander The Great Airport in Thessaloniki. After three months of strict lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first tourist flight to Northern Greece, from the carrier egean Airlines, arrived to great fanfare after departing from Munich, Germany. The passengers were welcomed by political officials from Thessaloniki and Greece’s Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Chardalias, who referred to the measures that are currently being taken to protect both tourists and the local population from COVID-19.


A passenger from Germany, who only gave his first name, Prodromos, said that he came to Greece for a vacation at his holiday home in Kavala. “We have a house there and we will stay for three weeks. We left the rain and now we have come to the beautiful sun.”

Thessaloniki, the second-largest city of Greece, is the commercial hub of the entire Balkan area.

On Saturday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on an official visit to the popular holiday island of Santorini, said that the safety of tourists this year is of the utmost priority. “Greece is ready to welcome tourists this summer by putting their safety and their health as a number one priority,” Mitsotakis said. Visitors to Greece will still be subject to random coronavirus testing for an undetermined period of time. Direct international flights to regional airports, including those on the Greek islands, will begin on July 1.