The Northern Capital Gateway Company, which manages Pulkovo Airport, announces that it has received the Russian Air Gateway award at the IX National Exhibition and Forum NAIS.

Today, February 9, on the Day of the Russian Civil Aviation Worker, Pulkovo Airport was awarded the title of one of the best airports in the country in 2021 in the category of over 10 million passengers per year. The ceremony of awarding the winners of the "Air Gates of Russia" award was held at the site of the NAIS exhibition and forum.

At the end of 2021, Pulkovo Airport served 18.1 million passengers, making it one of the three largest airports in Russia. Among the busiest airports in Europe, Pulkovo is in 12th place. For the first time in its history, Aeroflot launched flights from Pulkovo to five regional and 20 international destinations. In December, the first flight was served on the seventh degree of freedom of the airspace. It was carried out by Wizz Air to Sofia. Passenger traffic recovered by 92% compared to the record year of 2019.

A large-scale update of the product matrix has become one of the key tasks of the year in the field of non-aviation commerce. The current situation was analyzed, and a survey of 10,000 passengers was conducted about what shops, cafes, restaurants and goods people would like to see in the terminal. Updated 65% of retail space. 20 new tenants opened in Retail and F&B. Among them are both local brands - Verle, Stroganoff, Korzhov and others, emphasizing Pulkovo's belonging to St. Petersburg and offering unique offers, as well as world names.

In June, the renovated duty-free shop of the RegStaer group of companies and the Dufry company received the first passengers in the international zone. A tenant format unique for the airport – the first Magnit City supermarket opened in December.

Pulkovo Airport has continued its large-scale digital transformation. It is aimed at ensuring security and fault tolerance, the company's transition to a culture of managerial decision-making based on in-depth data analysis - data driven decision making. In two years, 16 major IT projects have been implemented. The IT infrastructure of data processing centers has been updated by 75%, software and applications - by 90%. The commissioning of the company's own IT development - Mobile Resource Management System (MRMS - Mobile Resource Management System) is planned for 2022.

In October, the Runway project was launched in Pulkovo. Within its framework, it is planned to attract more than 1,000 students from universities and colleges of St. Petersburg to work in operating units on flexible schedules with hourly pay. This format gives students the opportunity to combine work and study, and the airport to meet the need for staff during peak hours.

Work continued on the master plan for a new phase of Pulkovo airport development. Within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Northern Capital Gateway LLC, part of VTB Infrastructure Holding, and the Government of St. Petersburg signed an agreement of intent on the further development of Pulkovo Airport. 

During 2021, Pulkovo Airport was recognized as the best in the ASQ ACI rating among European air harbors in terms of overall passenger satisfaction with the quality of service (rating for the II and IV quarters).

As a reminder, on February 9, 2021, Pulkovo Airport became the winner of the Russian Air Gates national award in the Best Airport: Meeting Challenges 2020 – Innovative Project nomination.

The Russian Air Gateway Award is presented as part of the National Exhibition of Civil Aviation Infrastructure NAIS. The award was established by the organizing committee of the exhibition, the Federal Air Transport Agency and the industry portal AVIA.RU. The purpose of the award is to identify and encourage the most efficiently and steadily developing airports in the Russian Federation, to form a positive image of airports and their business reputation in society. The award's expert council includes representatives of the largest airlines in Russia, heads of industry associations, and leading journalists covering the aviation industry.