Pulkovo Airport

Pulkovo is an international airport serving St. Petersburg, Russia. It consists of one terminal which is located 23 km south of the city centre. The airport serves as a hub for Rossiya Airlines and as focus city for Smartavia.

Pulkovo Airport was officially opened on June 24, 1932, as a state-owned domestic airport.

In 1951, the construction of the new terminal was complete. In the mid-1950s the new extended runway was completed, allowing to handle larger aircraft such as Ilyushin-18 and Tupolev-104. In that same time period the exploitation of jet engine planes began in Shosseynaya Airport.

In the early 1960s, modern regional airplanes such as the An-24 and Yak-40 began to appear in the airport.

The airport was renamed Pulkovo Airport on 24 April 1973. In May 1973, the new Pulkovo 1 terminal was opened. The famous 5-cup Pulkovo 1 was designed by Alexandr Zyk. The 5 cups on top were put intentionally to give the terminal a more spacious feeling, as well as to allow more natural sunlight to pass through. This terminal is regarded as a masterpiece of Soviet postmodern architecture. Pulkovo 1 was a domestic-only terminal. Domestic air traffic increased approximately 45% every decade between the 1970-1990s. The old pre-war building of the airport was renamed to Pulkovo 2 and the terminal was exploited for international flights only.

On 11 April 1986, the new departure and arrival zones for the international terminal were completed, doubling the passenger traffic rate capacity of Pulkovo 1.

In 2009, The Saint Petersburg Transportation Ministry requested that an operating company for Pulkovo Airport be created, and a consortium known as NCG (Northern Capital Gateway) was set up by Russian VTB Capital Bank, international Fraport AG Company, and the Greek Copelouzos Group.

From 2020, the number of destinations are expected to increase rapidly, with up to 75% increase in passenger numbers forecast.