As Cyprus opens up to vaccinated Russian tourists, Aeroflot subsidiary and low-cost carrier Pobeda said Friday that it would add flights to Larnaca from Yekaterinburg, Kazan, and Perm from mid-June. Tickets are already available for sale on the carrier’s website.
Four weekly Pobeda flights to Cyprus
Flights from Perm will commence on June 14, from Ekaterinburg on June 15, and from Kazan on June 16. They will depart once per week throughout the summer season. The airline is already operating a once-weekly service to Larnaca from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport (VKO).
Russian tourists are allowed to visit Cyprus without entering quarantine since April 1st. However, they must register on the Cyprus FlightPass website. They are also obliged to take two PCR tests, one no later than 72 hours before departure and a second upon arrival at the airport.
The cost for a test for arrivals at Larnaca airport is currently €30, TASS reports. From May 10th, Cyprus will also allow travelers vaccinated with Sputnik V to enter without getting tested. Thus far, a little over 3.8 million Russians have received both doses of the vaccine.
Winning despite difficult times
Pobeda, which in June last year painted one of its Boeing 737s with a special livery to thank ‘all the heroes in white robes’, has done surprisingly well throughout the pandemic. It actually increased its revenue passenger kilometers over the past year, much due to the fact that the Russian domestic market made a quick recovery by the end of summer 2020.
The airline, whose name means ‘Victory’, has announced several new services to Europe over the past weeks. From June 3rd, the airline will begin flying to Baden Baden in Germany from Moscow. Pobeda has also added a second Italian destination to its summer schedule from VKO. It will fly not only to Bergamo (the low-cost airport of choice for Milan) but also to Rome, starting June 12th.
Only domestic from SVO
From May 1st, Pobeda moved some of its operations from Vnukovo to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO). However, it only operates domestic routes from its new home, flying to 12 cities across Russia.
Flights from Sheremetyevo are operated by Boeing 737s that have been transferred from mainline carrier Aeroflot, with the rest of the fleet staying at VKO. Like many low-cost carriers, Pobeda operates a fleet of all Boeing 737s, with an average age of only 4.1 years.
The Aeroflot Group has decided that its main airline will focus on premium and long-haul routes, while Pobeda is to take over all medium-haul routes. Meanwhile, Rossiya Russian Airlines will take all Aeroflot’s Sukhoi Superjet 100s by the end of 2022, as well as all its orders for more Russian-built aircraft.
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