For years, Greece sat outside the disinsection conversation: operators flew Athens and the islands the way they flew the rest of Europe, with no insect treatment in the plan. That changed in September 2025, and the change is recent enough that many crews have still not heard about it. Here is what is now required, and how to arrive with it handled.
What changed in September 2025
Greece made aircraft disinsection mandatory for flights arriving from countries its health ministry identifies as mosquito-risk areas, and the United States is on that list. The requirement is published in Greece’s aeronautical information, it applies to private and corporate aircraft as well as airlines, and it took effect in September 2025. The reasoning matches the rest of the Mediterranean: Aedes mosquitoes have been moving north for a decade, and Greek authorities decided arriving aircraft would no longer be an unwatched pathway.
Enforcement is the part to take seriously
New requirements are sometimes soft in practice. This one is not: an aircraft arriving in Greece without valid disinsection documentation can be isolated on the ramp, held from refueling and from boarding or disembarking passengers until the treatment situation is put right. For a trip built around a schedule, that is the expensive way to learn about a rule. The inexpensive way is a treatment before departure and a certificate in the flight documents.
Arriving compliant is straightforward
Pre-embarkation disinsection at your US departure airport handles it for a non-stop flight: the empty aircraft is treated with a WHO-approved aerosol before boarding, ventilated, boarded after the required wait, and lands in Greece with the certificate aboard. Your crew records the treatment details on the General Declaration with the wording we hand them, and the arrival stays routine. The governing standard is the World Health Organization’s Aircraft Disinsection Methods and Procedures, 2nd edition (2023).
Routing notes for Greek itineraries
Many US trips to Greece stop in Western Europe on the way, and pre-embarkation belongs at the last port before the destination country. Non-stop to Athens, the treatment happens at your US departure airport and the plan is simple. Routed through Paris, Rome or Vienna first, the treatment belongs at that last stop instead, and the arrangements change. Summer island itineraries add a wrinkle of their own, since Mykonos and Santorini arrivals often route through Athens. Send us the full routing and we will tell you exactly where the treatment should happen.
The short version
Greece requires disinsection on arriving flights from the US as of September 2025, and it enforces the requirement on the ramp. Treated before departure, certificate aboard, the arrival is uneventful. Tell us your departure point, routing and dates, and we will confirm the details for your aircraft.