OREANDA-NEWS Pulkovo St. Petersburg Airport (Russia) handled 13.3 million passengers in 2016. During the year, 15 new routes were launched from Pulkovo, including 6 domestic and 9 international destinations.

Among those are Zagreb (Croatia, Croatia Airlines), Belgrade (Serbia, Air Serbia), Tbilisi (Georgia, Ural Airlines), Rimini (Italy, Rossiya Airlines) and others. In 2016, 11 new ailrines (5 domestic and 6 international) commenced scheduled flights to St. Petersburg.

In December 2016, Pulkovo Airport became the first Russian airport to receive the Welcome Chinese Certification of the Chinese Academy of Tourism, testifying to the high quality of services provided by the airport to tourists from China. From January — December 2016, direct passenger traffic between Pulkovo and various points China reached 169,000 passengers, an amount 82% higher than in 2015.

Pulkovo Airport won several prestigious Russian and international awards in 2016. St. Petersburg Airport received the “Russian Air Gates” award as ‘Best Innovative Project’ of the year and was voted by the passengers ‘Best Airport in Russia with passenger traffic over 10 million people a year’. In February 2016, Airport Council International ranked Pulkovo as Best in Europe in the ACI Airport Service Quality Awards, in the 5-15 million passenger traffic category. The Government of Saint Petersburg named Northern Capital Gateway LLC, the managing company of Pulkovo St. Petersburg Airport, Investor of the year. In addition, during the year of 2016, NCG became the winner of several awards in the HR sphere, including projects in corporate volunteering, working with students and the development of human capital.

In 2017, Pulkovo Airport will continue to expand its route network, improving the transport accessibility of the city of St. Petersburg and the North-West region of Russia. Several airlines will increase the frequency of flights from Pulkovo and launch new domestic and international routes. Among the announced plans are KLM launching a second daily flight from St. Petersburg to Amsterdam, staring February 18; as well as additional flights to Riga to be performed by airBaltic. In the IATA summer season 2017, Ellinair will start scheduled flights from Pulkovo to the Greek city of Kavala, while Alitalia plans to open a new route from St. Petersburg to Catania in Italy. Both destinations will be new for Pulkovo Airport.