Operational
Airport Profile · RU

Pulkovo Airport

LED ULLI
St. Petersburg, RU Europe/Moscow Multi-airline hub
21.0M
Annual passengers
40+
Destinations
37
Airlines
2
Runways
Where LED ranks
Among 534 international airports — and 128 in Europe
View full ranking →
Passengers
# 129 worldwide
# 29 Europe
Direct routes
# 195 worldwide
# 67 Europe
Airlines
# 188 worldwide
# 63 Europe
Runways
# 194 worldwide
# 39 Europe
Terminals
# 393 worldwide
# 86 Europe
Area
# 405 worldwide
# 86 Europe
Elevation
# 338 worldwide
# 98 Europe
Pulkovo Airport is the primary aviation gateway of Saint Petersburg and the third-busiest airport in Russia after Moscow-Sheremetyevo and Moscow-Domodedovo — ranked by BigAirports as the dominant airport of northwestern Russia and the Baltic approaches. Located 23 km south of central Saint Petersburg at 78 ft (24 m) elevation, LED handles roughly 20M passengers annually through a single unified terminal (Pulkovo-1, reopened 2014) designed by Grimshaw Architects with a distinctive folded-plate roof structure that evokes the local winter palace and industrial traditions of the city. Two parallel runways — 10R/28L at 12,402 ft (3,780 m) and 10L/28R at 11,146 ft (3,397 m) — support the operation, both of concrete construction and dimensioned for fully loaded wide-body departures. The 2014 terminal consolidated the previous Pulkovo-1 domestic and Pulkovo-2 international buildings into a single 150,000-square-meter structure with 88 check-in counters, 14 contact gates with jetbridges and 7 remote stands. A planned second terminal would lift system capacity from the current 22M toward 35M passengers. LED's 146 routes to 87 destinations across 37 airlines reflect a network weighted heavily toward domestic Russia — Aeroflot, Rossiya (St. Petersburg-based), S7, Ural, Red Wings, Smartavia and Pobeda all serve major Russian cities including Moscow, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk — alongside a reshaped international layer focused on Turkey, UAE, Central Asia, Caucasus, Serbia and friendly Asian markets. Turkish Airlines, flydubai, Qatar Airways, Air Serbia, Belavia, Uzbekistan Airways, Air Astana, FlyArystan and Azerbaijan Airlines operate scheduled service. Western European and North American service has been curtailed since 2022; the international map now routes primarily via Istanbul, Dubai and Belgrade.

Global route network

Every direct destination, colour-coded by distance

Most popular route
LED → SVO
132 observed departures
Longest route
LED → HKT
8,581 km
Countries reached
15
Via direct passenger flights

Where can I fly from here?

Top direct destinations, sorted by daily frequency

Track new routes from LED

Get notified when airlines add new destinations, resume seasonal services, or launch direct flights from Pulkovo Airport. Flight tracking, alerts, and full route history live on AirportRoutes.com.

Airport data

Authoritative facts sourced from the airport authority

Elevation
78 ft (24 m)
Above sea level
Runways
2 · 12,402 ft max
2 runways, CON
Passengers
21.0M/yr
Reported 2024
Airlines
37 carriers
FV · SU · 5N
Hub status
Mega-hub
Multi-airline hub
Area
Data Coming Soon
Total airport area

Beyond the major hubs

LED also serves 56 regional airports across 4 countries — secondary cities, islands, and niche destinations not ranked on BigAirports.

56
Regional airports
4
Countries served
21
Airlines operating
301
Observed flights
AirportRoutes.com

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AirportRoutes tracks all 96+ routes — majors and regionals alike — with flight-level activity, airline filters, and daily updates.

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Getting to the airport

Ground transport options from St. Petersburg

Public transportation

City bus #39 operates between the airport and Moskovskaya station on Saint Petersburg Metro Line 2 (Blue Line) every 12–20 minutes for a 30–35 minute journey at a flat RUB 65 fare paid on board. Express bus #39Э (39Ex) makes the same trip in roughly 20 minutes with fewer stops. From Moskovskaya, the metro reaches Nevsky Prospekt in 20–25 minutes.

Taxis & rideshare

Official airport taxi service Taxi Pulkovo operates a booking counter in the arrivals hall with fixed-rate trips to central Saint Petersburg typically RUB 1,200–1,800. Yandex Go is the dominant ride-hailing app and commonly quotes significantly lower fares. Unofficial drivers approaching inside the terminal should be declined for safety and pricing reasons.

Rental cars

Local operators Rentmotors, Rexrent and Europcar (where available) maintain counters in the arrivals area. An International Driving Permit is recommended for licenses not in the Cyrillic alphabet, alongside passport and credit card. Winter tires are legally required from December through February and most rental cars are configured accordingly. International card acceptance has been restricted since 2022.

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