Wizz Air, today announced a new route from Budapest to Saint Petersburg in Russia. The newest WIZZ service will commence on 27 August and will be operated two times a week. Seats on the new route are already on sale and can be booked on wizzair.com from just HUF 8,990*.

Saint Petersburg is becoming the second Russian destination available from the Hungarian capital. In September 2013 Wizz Air launched the Budapest – Moscow service, and since then carried 440 thousand passengers between the two capitals.

Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city is a major port on the Baltic sea at the delta of the river Neva. Founded by Tsar Peter the Great and once the capital of the Russian Empire, Saint Petersburg is considered to be the country’s cultural capital. With its breathtaking location and uniquely preserved architectural monuments, the city offers countless sights for visitors to discover: over 200 museums, including the Hermitage, one of the largest art collections of the world, numerous palaces, art galleries, and a diverse cultural life ranging from classical music and ballet to the avant-garde and modern festivals. In addition to its World Heritage listed cultural and historical treasures, Saint Petersburg is a major trade gateway, and one of the main financial and industrial centers of Russia.

Following the recent commencement of nine routes and the announcement of the Bordeaux, Astana and Frankfurt services, Saint Petersburg is already the 13th destination the airline will start operating flights from Budapest to in 2017. The airline now connects the Hungarian capital with 63 cities across Europe and beyond, which makes its Budapest offer the most diverse one in the entire WIZZ network.

Being the hometown airline of Hungary, Wizz Air currently operates flights from two Hungarian bases in Budapest and Debrecen with a total of 12 aircraft in the country, employing more than 1,000 people in flight crew, cabin crew, office and supporting functions. In 2016, 3.7 million passengers flew with WIZZ to and from Hungary, which is more than any airline has ever carried on its Hungarian routes, and represents 23% growth year over year. Based on the 2016 figures the airline’s operations support over 2,800 indirect local jobs**.

WIZZ now offers 69 routes from Hungary connecting Budapest and Debrecen with 29 countries across Europe and beyond.

Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said: “As the de facto national carrier of Hungary, we are proud to announce today a long-awaited WIZZ route from Budapest to Saint Petersburg, establishing the only direct air connection between Hungary and the cultural capital of Russia. Similar to our Budapest-Moscow service, we expect that our second route to Russia will stimulate economic, business and trade relations between the two countries and we are also confident that our low fares will attract a large number of leisure travelers to both cities, stimulating tourism and hospitality industries. We remain strongly committed to Hungary and our Hungarian customers and continue to develop our ever growing low-fare network bringing ever more opportunities to the country.”