Airport Guide

History of St Petersburg Pulvoko Airport

Work was completed on St Petersburg's principal airport in June 1932, with most of the first flights making the two-hour hop from nearby Moscow.

Operations out of the airport were halted between 1941 and 1944 as Nazi Germany laid siege to the city – then known as Leningrad – with cargo and mail flights resuming in 1945 and passenger flights taking off again in 1948.

The 1950s saw the airport expand to offer a number of short and long-haul routes to cities across the vast Soviet Union. This expansion continued in the 1970s, the decade in which it was named after the nearby Pulvoko hills.

Presently, the airport is the fourth-busiest in Russia after the three Moscow terminals and handles almost five million passengers a year.

However, plans are currently in place to expand operations to allow for 17 million passengers a year to pass through its terminals by 2025.

Travelling to St Petersburg Pulvoko Airport

Located some 12 miles south of St Petersburg's historic centre, Pulvoko Airport is well-connected by cheap and efficient transport links.

The most popular means of travelling between downtown and the terminals is the regular 'Airport Bus' service which operates on a daily basis with journey times of around 35 minutes, though charges can apply for extra pieces of luggage.

While the normal city buses can cost less than $1, they are slower, though some connect to the St Petersburg metro system.

Taxis are available round-the-clock from outside the terminal buildings, while there are also car hire facilities available for those keen to explore the city on their own initiative.

Airlines flying from St Petersburg Pulvoko Airport

By far the biggest presence at the airport is that of St Petersburg-based airline Rossiya.

As well as operating VIP shuttle services between Russia's two major cities, including regular presidential flights, the carrier operates dozens of national and international flights.

Within Russia, Rossiya flies to cities such as Irkutsk, Novy Urengoi, Rostov-on-Don and Volgorod, while internationally the airline flies to more than a dozen destinations, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Rome and Venice.

In comparison, the Russian national carrier flies to less than a dozen destinations, all within Russia, including Moscow and Perm.

A number of national carriers fly from St Petersburg to their respective capitals, including British Airways, Air France, Finnair, KLM and Turkish Airlines.

In addition, numerous smaller carriers, such as Sky Express, Windjet and S7 airlines, offer cheap flights both within Russia and across the old Soviet Union.

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