Cyprus Airways has added Moscow and St. Petersburg to its flight network for winter 2020-21 after Russia lifted an embargo on the airline carrying passengers.
The company said it will fly to Moscow Domodedovo Airport once a week until 15 January 2021.
A St. Petersburg flight will begin on 21 January 2021, leaving every Thursday.
To meet the increased demand for St. Petersburg during the festive season, the Cypriot carrier included in its schedule two flights before the official launch date.
The full flight schedule of Cyprus Airways flights to Russia Federation is displayed below:
Flight Schedule for Moscow until 15 January 2021
| Flight No. | Travel Period | Days | Origin | Destination | Dept. Time | Arrival Time |
| CY412
|
1 DEC 2020 – 24 DEC
30DEC 2020 7 JAN 2021 – 15 JAN |
Thu
Wed Thu |
Larnaca | Moscow | 07:00 | 12:20 |
|
CY413
|
1 DEC – 24 DEC 2020
30 DEC 2020 7 JAN 2021 – 15 JAN |
Thu
Wed Thu |
Moscow
|
Larnaca
|
13:50 | 17:10 |
Flight Schedule for St. Petersburg 25 December 2020 – 25 March 2021
| Flight No. | Travel Period | Days | Origin | Destination | Dept. Time | Arrival Time |
|
CY486
|
25 DEC & 8 JAN21
21 JAN 2021 – 25 MAR |
Fri
Thu |
Larnaca | St. Petersburg | 07:00 | 12:50 |
| CY487
|
25 DEC & 8 JAN 2021
21 JAN2021 – 25 MAR |
Fri
Thu |
St. Petersburg
|
Larnaca
|
13:50 | 17:30 |
Cyprus Airways Chief Operations Officer George Mavrocostas said: “We are extremely happy that we managed to overcome the obstacles we recently faced with the Russian Authorities for the operation of our flights to Moscow.
“Our main priority is to carry all our passengers safely to their destination.
“The fact some of our passengers had a very bad experience last month when we had to inform them at the airport that they could not fly to Moscow due to the rejection of Russian authorities, forced us to publicly raise this issue.”
The company thanked Transport Minister Mr Yiannis Karousos, the Civil Aviation Department and Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides for their “immediate response to our appeal for assistance to ensure the smooth operation of the bilateral air service arrangements between Cyprus and Russia Federation.”
The airline also thanked the Russian Ambassador to Cyprus, Stanislav V. Osadchiy and the Federal Agency for Air Transport for “all their efforts”.
Earlier this week, Cyprus Airways said it could not sell tickets for its scheduled weekly flights from Larnaca to Moscow because Russian authorities banned it carrying passengers.
The government said Tuesday it was doing everything necessary to get Russia to overturn the ban.
Karousos said the Russian Federation’s Department of Civil Aviation informed Cyprus Airways by email that its aircraft could transport passengers from Russia to Cyprus but not vice versa.
The Minister said it appears the decision was part of the package of measures Russia has taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Karousos said clarifications had been requested.
