Leonid Sergeev, CEO of NCG, Pulkovo Airport opeartor.
Fastest Growing Carrier over 500,000 pax: Pobeda Airlines; Fastest Growing Carrier 100,000-500,000 pax: airBaltic.
Northern Capital Gateway, the operator of Pulkovo St. Petersburg Airport, announces the best airlines of 2019. Carriers are awarded for their contribution to increase in passenger traffic, development of the route network and transfer service at Pulkovo Airport as well as tourism in St. Petersburg. The winners in 11 nominations were revealed at the annual LED Together ceremony on January 24, 2020.
Fastest Growing Carrier over 500,000 pax: Pobeda Airlines
In 2019, the carrier served 1.95 million passengers at Pulkovo, which is 62.1% more than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings increased by 4,000 operations. Pobeda Airlines performs flights from St. Petersburg to 23 destinations. In 2019, the carrier launched services to 10 destinations from Pulkovo: Anapa, Astrakhan, Kazan, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Perm, Samara, Saratov, Ufa and Chelyabinsk.
Fastest Growing Carrier 100,000-500,000 pax: airBaltic
In 2019, the carrier served 193.7 thousand passengers at Pulkovo, which is 30.9% more than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings increased by 60 operations. Throughout the year, airBaltic performed up to four daily flights from St. Petersburg to Riga.
Fastest Growing Carrier 10,000-100,000 pax: Sichuan Airlines
In 2019, the airline welcomed 45 thousand, which is 41.2% more than in 2018. In September 2019, Sichuan Airlines introduced a new aircraft type for St. Petersburg airport, the most technologically advanced long-range aircraft the Airbus A350. Airline’s flagship aircraft performed the regular flight on the Chinese Chengdu — St. Petersburg — Chengdu route.
Best Contribution to Transfer Development: Rossiya Airlines
In 2019, the transfer traffic of Pulkovo Airport’s home base carrier exceeded 670 thousand passengers. The route network of Rossiya Airlines at St. Petersburg airport includes 54 domestic and international flight destinations, offering convenient transfer for Pulkovo passengers. In 2019, Rossiya Airlines served a record 19 million passenger of Pulkovo Airport.
Best Developing International Carrier: Finnair
In 2019, the airline served 208.1 thousand passengers at Pulkovo, which is 44.4% more than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings increased by more than 520 operations. In 2019, the carrier operated up to four daily flights between St. Petersburg and Helsinki. The airline is a member of the Oneworld alliance and offers convenient connections in the capital of Finland to continue traveling to points in North and South America, Asia and Oceania. In 2019, Pulkovo Airport and Finnair celebrated 55 years of the St. Petersburg – Helsinki route.
Best Developing Regional Carrier: Smartavia
In 2019, the carrier served 814.4 thousand passengers in St. Petersburg, which is which is 25.7% higher than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings increased by 650 operations. Smartavia route network at Pulkovo featured 23 destinations, including 7 new: Gelendzhik, Izhevsk, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Antalya (Turkey), Baku (Azerbaijan) and Yerevan (Armenia). In April 2019, Pulkovo Airport welcomed the first Boeing 737-800NG aircraft in the livery of the new Smartavia brand.
Best Developing CIS Carrier: Uzbekistan Airways
In 2019, the airline served at Pulkovo 288.7 thousand passengers, which is 20.1% more than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings increased by more than 200 operations. The carrier operated scheduled flights from St. Petersburg to seven points of Uzbekistan. The flights from Pulkovo are performed on comfortable aircraft, including one of the most advanced types of wide-body aircraft Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Best Development of Inbound Tourism: Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, connects China, India, Thailand, the United States and other countries and continents with St. Petersburg. Over 60% of the carrier’s passengers traveling to Pulkovo are foreigners. In 2019, Turkish Airlines served over 198 thousand passengers in St. Petersburg, exceeding the figure of 2018 by 16%, and performed about 1370 take-offs and landings.
Best Development of Outbound Tourism: Azur Air
Azur Air offers residents of St. Petersburg and North-West Russia the opportunity to travel on direct flights from Pulkovo to such unique long-haul destinations as La Romana (the Dominican Republic), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Sanya (China), Varadero (Cuba) and Goa (India). Azur Air route network from St. Petersburg includes 18 destinations. In 2019, the carrier served over 457 thousand people at Pulkovo, which is 14% more than in 2018. The number of take-offs and landings amounted to more than 1,700 operations.
Best Developing New Destination: S7 Airlines
In May 2019, the airline launched direct scheduled flights from Pulkovo to Irkutsk located near the famous Baikal Lake. S7 Airlines provides services on a year-round basis. In 2019, the carrier served 31 thousand passengers on the flights between St. Petersburg and Irkutsk and performed around 216 take-off and landing operations.
Best Developing Newcomer: Wizz Air UK
The carrier started to operate flights between London and St. Petersburg on October 1, 2019. Wizz Air UK provides services from Pulkovo to Luton Airport on Airbus A321 aircraft with a capacity of 230 seats. In 2019, the airline served more than 29 thousand passengers on flights between St. Petersburg and London and performed 182 take-offs and landings.
All winners received awards from Pulkovo Airport and gifts from the partners of the event. These were one of the leading internet portals for real estate in Moscow and St. Petersburg Restate.ru; social network for tourists and travelers TourOut.ru; online entertainment guide to St. Petersburg Peterburg2.ru; the largest service for package tours search in Russia Sletat.ru, the leading international flight booking service for independent travelers Kiwi.com, one of Europe's leading online travel agencies Tickets.ru, a chain of premium class flower salons in St. Petersburg and Moscow Milady, the largest importer of high-quality premium wines and spirits Simple.
Northern Capital Gateway holds the annual LED Together Awards at the end of January, celebrating the success of airlines from the preceding year. The ceremony traditionally brings together representatives of carriers, tourist and transport authorities of the Russian Federation and St. Petersburg, partners of Pulkovo Airport. Over two hundred guests attended the ninth LED Together.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
