Wizz Air defers St. Petersburg base launch over COVID

Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) has announced it has delayed the opening of its first base in Russia, at St. Petersburg airport, until December 3, 2020, as the prevailing COVID-related border restrictions have affected travel to and from Russia. The low-cost carrier had initially planned to deploy a single A320-200 to the Russian airport from September 18, 2020. The revised opening will result in the deferral of the launches of five new routes from St. Petersburg, namely to Salzburg, Oslo Gardermoen, Copenhagen Kastrup, Stockholm Skavsta, and Malta Int’l. Routes operated by Wizz Air to St. Petersburg from its other bases (Budapest, Bratislava, Bucharest Otopeni, Vilnius, and Sofia) remain suspended for the time being. Wizz Air UK’s service from London Luton resumed briefly in August but was suspended again on August 28, after just two flights, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Foreigners are not currently allowed to enter Russia. However, residents and citizens of certain countries, including the United Kingdom, are exempted from the ban if they produce a negative PCR test.