OREANDA-NEWS. Europe’s largest low-cost airline Ryanair (Ireland), EasyJet (Great Britain) and WizzAir (Hungary) have claimed for the flights from international airport Pulkovo near Saint Petersburg.

According to preliminary route plans, foreign low-cost airlines plan to operate year-round: the difference in the frequency of flights in summer and in winter is 3/2. In August 2019, the companies provided route network plans for flights from Pulkovo, in which the government will open the seventh “freedom of air” in test mode. The seventh degree allows the airline to transport passengers and cargo between the two countries without landing in its country of registration. “That is, for example, an Irish airline can operate flights between Saint Petersburg and a city in a third state,” explained the representative of Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who supervises transport.

“Due to these low-cost airlines, by 2025 we plan to attract up to 6 million tourists a year to Saint Petersburg,” Leonid Sergeyev, the CEO of Pulkovo operator said. He noted that another airline from the Commonwealth of Independent States submitted an application for flights from Saint Petersburg to the USA, but did not name it. “…These airlines reacted first before the official announcement of the initiatives. In practice, real demand will be larger,” – Sergeyev said. According to Sergeyev, negotiations with the Ministry of Transport will continue. The company has already sent to the ministry a route network of the flights to 33 countries, 13 of which have already been approved. According to the presentation of the Pulkovo operator, within the network the airport expects by 2025 the largest increase in passengers from Germany (514 thousand passengers), France (496 thousand people), Great Britain (375 thousand), Italy (357 thousand) and Spain (343 thousand).