EastMed Air Plans Under Way

Plans were afoot on Sunday for resumption of airline flights between Israel, Cyprus, Greece and other countries with relatively low coronavirus rates, according to media reports.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed Transport Minister Miri Regev to prepare an outline for renewing the routes with the eastern Mediterranean neighbors, which have been shut down for months due to the coronavirus.

Regev reportedly asked the staff of the Transportation Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority to work out the details without delay with the Health Ministry and the National Security Council, so that a report can be submitted for approval.

Only five days’ quarantine will be required for those landing in Israel, according to reports.

Those permitted to enter the country will likely only be those from countries defined as “green” coronavirus areas, where the incidence of the virus is relatively low. It was not immediately clear how Israel’s own high number of new cases would not stand in the way of its participation.

No target date was mentioned for the flights.