OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. From December 24, 2012 to January 13, 2013 the passenger flow rate at Pulkovo Airport amounted to 551 500 people which represents 8% increase against the number of passengers carried over the same period last year. The scheduled passenger flow rate increased by 3, 6%, the nonscheduled passenger flow rate – by 70, 9%.

On January 6 the passenger flow rate amounted to 30 539 people. At the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 scheduled flights to Moscow, Frankfurt am Main, Hurghada, Dubai and Kaliningrad as well as charter flights to Goa, Cancun, Agadir, Puerto Plata and Sharjah were most in-demand . Extra flights to Prague, Helsinki, Salzburg, Paris and Budapest were performed due to New Year holidays.

Northern Capital Gateway LLC the Pulkovo Airport Operator forecasts the further passenger flow growth for the route network expansion and attraction of new carriers.

In summer 2013 Icelandair the flagship airline of Iceland will introduce its direct regular flights from St. Petersburg to Reykjavik which will be performed twice a week. In 2013 Transaero Airlines will perform flights to Vienna alongside with Rossiya Airlines and Austrian Airlines. Aegean Airlines will perform flights to Greek resorts such as Thessaloniki (3 times a week), Rhodes and Heraklion. In summer schedule 2013 the number of flights to Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don and Omsk as well as to Prague, Malta and Tel Aviv will be increased.

The Pulkovo Airport policy in terms of the route network expansion is being realized with an outlook for the next 5 years. One of the priorities is to introduce flights to USA and increase the number of flights to Southeast Asia.