Cyprus will welcome back Brits on holiday from July 15.
The country's deputy tourism minister Savvas Perdios has announced that he expects flights to resume to the Mediterranean hotspot by mid-July.
Speaking to the Sun Online, he said: "The UK is our biggest market, it's massively important to us, and the situation there is improving all the time.
"In a few weeks from now, by mid-July, flights will be possible from the UK to Cyprus … 15th July sounds very reasonable."
The Mediterranean island moved swiftly to contain the coronavirus outbreak, ordering a broad lockdown within days of its first registered case on March 9. It started easing it on May 4 and hotels reopened on June 1.
The news will put smiles back on the faces of many Brits who were hoping for a getaway.
And Mr Perdios gave Brits even more to smile about by predicting a price war among tour operators to encourage Brits back.
He said: "There are going to be very good deals for Brits this summer I am certain of that, not just in Cyprus but the Mediterranean in general.
"We’ve been in contact with tour operators for the last two months at least, talking to TUI, Jet2, etc.
"We’re going to see a price war with heavy discounting especially via tour operators in the coming weeks."
He added: "“The reason the new deals haven’t come up yet is because nobody knew when, exactly, they were opening.
“The rates, the deals, the packages are being finalised now."
“Now that things are a little bit clearer and destinations are opening, tour operators feel it's possible to save a small part of the summer even at the last moment."
Authorities have tightened health and safety protocols across the island. Contingency planning included covering the medical costs if a visitor fell ill with COVID-19 and setting up dedicated quarantine hotels.
Mr Perdios added: "We have taken a lot of measures...but at the same time we do understand that people want to come here on holiday so we haven't converted Cyprus into a massive hospital," he said.
