Thousands of Israelis vacationing in Greece were stranded on Monday after the Greek government announced that it was closing the airport in the city of Thessaloniki as part of a general lockdown in northern Greece, following a surge in the virus infection rate.

Following the announcement of the lockdown, which went into effect on Tuesday morning, El Al and Israir canceled all flights to Thessaloniki, where several thousand Israelis are currently located. The Israelis cannot travel to other airports in Greece due to the lockdown.

However, later on Monday, Israir gained approval from Greece to send rescue flights to Thessaloniki on Tuesday to expatriate the Israelis, following the intervention of Transportation Minister Miri Regev.

Greece is currently the only country where Israelis can both visit and return from without being required to quarantine but of course, that is likely to change due to the recent increase in morbidity in the country. Other previously “green” countries, such as Serbia, have already been designated as “red.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)