Budget Hungarian carrier Wizzair has had to cancel its flights between Tallinn and three major Ukrainian cities after just one day of operation, due to rising reported COVID-19 rates.
Wizzair commenced flights between Tallinn and the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as well as the cities of Lviv and Kharkiv late last week.
Ukraine’s coronavirus rate was below the ceiling where flight links would be canceled, which currently stood at 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The latter regulation is imposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, not the Foreign Ministry.
However, new data on July 31 revealed Ukraine’s recorded rate had risen to 28 per 100,000 for the preceding 14 days, meaning weekend flights were immediately canceled.
Passengers on the one-day flights were open were required to self-quarantine upon arrival in Estonia, since Ukraine’s recent reported COVID-19 rate had been above the Foreign Affairs Ministry-imposed threshold of 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the preceding 14 days.
Many Ukrainian nationals are employed in Estonia’s agricultural and construction sectors.
Neighboring Belarus has a reported rate of 21.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000, meaning direct flights between Minsk and Tallinn continue, with arrivals in the latter having to self-quarantine. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
