Pulkovo Airport

Pulkovo Airport Аэропорт Пулково
IATA: LED – ICAO: ULLI
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Saint Petersburg City Administration
Operator		Northern Capital Gateway
Serves		Saint Petersburg
Location		Saint Petersburg
Elevation AMSL		79 ft / 24 m
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
10R/28L	3,780	12,401	Asphalt
10L/28R	3,397	11,145	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Number of passengers			7,070,000
Press release[1]. DAFIF[2][3]. Saint Petersburg Pulkovo Location of airport in Russia

Pulkovo Airport (Russian: Аэропо́рт Пу́лково, Aeroport Pulkovo) (IATA: LED, ICAO: ULLI) is an international airport serving Saint Petersburg, Russia. It consists of two terminals, Pulkovo-1 (serving mostly domestic flights) and Pulkovo-2 (international flights), which are located about 20 km (12 mi) and 17 km (11 mi) south of the city centre, respectively.^[4][5] The airport serves as a hub for Rossiya Airlines^[6] (formerly Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise), and as focus city for Nordavia.

History

A map in the old main terminal shows the early main flight routes in the USSR.

Originally it was named Shosseynaya Airport, by the name of a nearby railroad station. Construction began in January 1931, and was completed on June 24, 1932, with the first aircraft arriving at 17:31 that day, after a two-and-a-half hour flight from Moscow carrying passengers and mail.

During the Second World War the airport was the frontline in the Nazi Siege of Leningrad. There were no flights between 1941 and 1944. The nearby Pulkovo hills were occupied by the Nazis and were used by the long-range artillery for daily bombardments of Leningrad. The airport was cleared of the Nazis in January 1944, and resumed cargo and mail flights after the runways were repaired in 1945.

In February 1948, after the war damages were completely repaired, the airport resumed scheduled passenger flights. In 1949, there were scheduled flights to 15 major cities of the USSR, and 15 more short-range flights within the north-western Russia.

In 1951 the airport terminal was redesigned to handle larger aircraft. In the mid 1950s the new extended runway was completed, allowing to handle larger aircraft such as Ilyushin-18 and Tupolev-104 jets.

ICAO category 1 standards were implemented in 1965, making way for international operations. The airport was renamed "Pulkovo Airport" on April 24, 1973. The new Pulkovo-1 terminal was opened to handle the domestic air traffic, which increased 40%-50% every decade between the 1970s and 1990s.

Today

As of 2007, Pulkovo is the 4th busiest in Russia after Moscow's Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports. While the number of domestic and international flights increased, the number of passengers stagnated between 1990 (4,837,000) and 2006 (just over 5 million) while the share of international traffic rose. It is anticipated that by 2025 Pulkovo airport will handle 17 million passengers.

There are two passenger terminals: Pulkovo-1 for domestic flights, and Pulkovo-2 for international flights. There is also one cargo terminal. There are forty-seven aircraft stands total. It is planned to increase the number of aircraft stands to 100 by 2025.

The airport has two main runways. Runway 10R/28L (Russian: 10п/28л) is 3782 m long and 60 m wide, it has asphalt surface on the base made of reinforced armored concrete. The second runway is 3410 m long and 60 m wide, it has asphalt surface on the base made of reinforced cemento-concrete. The reconstruction of the second runway began in 2007.

Terminal 1 mainly serves flights within Russia and the CIS countries. Some international charter flights are also served by Terminal 1, those are tourist flights as well as private business jets. For example the private jet owned by Steve Forbes was served at Terminal 1, and thousands of people witnessed its "Forbes — the tool of capitalism" logo proudly exposed on the body of 737.

Terminal 2 serves most of the long-haul international flights. Terminal 1 was built in 1973, whereas Terminal 2 was built in 1950s and reconstructed in 2003.

In the near term, Pulkovo strategically focuses on its master plan until 2025 that calls for massive modernization of the entire airport infrastructure. A new terminal will be located directly to the north of the Terminal 1 and will contain 18 gates. The construction was planned to begin in 2008 with scheduled completion in 2010/11, but as of 2010, no work has yet been realised.

In May 2008, the City of Saint Petersburg has opened a 1.5 bn USD tender for a 30 year concession to operate Pulkovo Airport.^[7]

Ground transportation

• "Marshrutka" minibuses run on several lines, some of them following the city bus routes (and using matching line numbers).
• Pulkovo Airport is served by two regular bus lines (no. 13 and 39).

For private car travel, Pulkovo Airport is accessible via the nearby Pulkovskoe shosse motorway from St Petersburg city centre. There are drop offs and pick up areas at both terminals, as well as short and long stay outdoor car parking.

Airlines and destinations

Domestic terminal at Pulkovo

International arrivals' terminal

A Kras Air Tu-204 on stand at Pulkovo in winter

Rossiya is currently the largest carrier operating at Pulkovo

Air Force One arrives for the 2006 G8 summit in Saint Petersburg

Cargo airlines

Related accidents

• April 27, 1974, an Ilyushin Il-18V passenger aircraft of Aeroflot flying to Krasnodar crashed right after take off from Pulkovo after engine fire. All 108 passengers and 10 members of crew died.
• June 26, 1991, an Antonov An-24 cargo aircraft of the AKF Polet company heading to Voronezh crashed in the Gulf of Finland five minutes after take off from Pulkovo. All ten people on board died.
• August 22, 2006, a Tupolev Tu-154M passenger flight of Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise from Anapa to Pulkovo crashed in Ukraine. All 160 passengers and 10 members of crew died. See Pulkovo Airlines Flight 612.

For a more comprehensive list, see Aviation Safety Network Entry for LED.

References

External links

• Official site
• Rossiya (English)
• Current weather for ULLI at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for LED at Aviation Safety Network
• Pulkovo Airport - Map of what is inside the airport. How to pass customs, other useful tips