St. Petersburg is not only the second largest city in Russia. It is also the largest tourist center. No wonder here, regardless of the seasons, so many excursion groups and independent travelers rush. And more and more tourists choose air transport for their movements .
For many, the question remains of where the plane will land in the northern capital of Russia. How many airports in St. Petersburg? Which one is the most important? How to get to the city from airports? And what services and level of service can be found in the air harbors of St. Petersburg? In this article we will try to answer all these questions.
Airports of St. Petersburg
As expected of the second capital, the city has not one air harbor, but several. True, their list is not as extensive as that of Moscow. But still there are three airports near the city on the Neva. These are Pulkovo, Rzhevka and Levashevo. The latter is not an airport in the strict sense of the word, but a simple airfield. It serves only military aircraft. The other two hubs are air harbors for civilian flights.
And which airport in St. Petersburg is the most important? This is Pulkovo. It is so big that they speak about it in the plural. The fact is that two terminals are located one kilometer from each other. Therefore, the Petersburgers say "Pulkovo-1" and "Pulkovo-2." Since information about the Levashovo military airfield is unlikely to be useful to an ordinary tourist, we will tell you more about the two hubs of the city.
Rzhevka
This smallest of the airports in St. Petersburg nevertheless has a great history. It was founded during the Second World War and was named for the nearby village - “Smolny”. During the blockade, it was from here that planes flew connecting the besieged city with the "Big Land". Food was delivered from him to Leningrad. And the wounded and children were evacuated from the besieged city. After the war, Smolny was used as a civilian airport.
In 1976, it received its modern name - “Rzhevka”. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the airport went bankrupt. For some time amateur flights of clubs were held there, rescue trainings were conducted. In 2014, a plan was also put forward for the development of a field for housing. But in December of that year, Heli Drive, a large helicopter company in St. Petersburg, saved the Rzhevka airport. She took the field and terminal for a long-term lease.
Now Rzhevka accepts helicopters and light aircraft. But the future of this historic air harbor is unclear. The development plan is still valid if the lease with Heli Drive is not extended. Now Rzhevka accepts few flights from Petrozavodsk. The airport is located 16 kilometers from the center of St. Petersburg. On weekdays, bus number 23 goes to him.
Peter, Pulkovo-1 Airport
This is the oldest city hub. It was built in 1932 and for a long time was the only civilian air gate of the Northern capital. It was then called "Highway." During the war years, the airport was closed. With the advent of peace, it began to function again. In 1973, a large-scale reconstruction of the airport was carried out. A new building of the air terminal was built from scratch. Then the airport was renamed "Pulkovo". He took domestic flights, as well as aircraft from the CIS countries and (partially) from non-CIS countries.
Soon there was a terminal designed exclusively for foreign passengers. It began to be called "Pulkovo-2", while the number "1" was assigned to the old building. This airport is located fourteen and a half kilometers from the city center. How to get to it, we will tell a little later.
Pulkovo-2
As already mentioned, of all the airports in St. Petersburg, only this one accepted flights from non-CIS countries. He was the second largest hub in Russia. The new Pulkovo-2 terminal was built to modern standards. It has all the amenities for passengers: a restaurant, cafe, currency exchange, ATM, duty-free shop. For those traveling in first class, there are two VIP rooms - “St. Petersburg” and “Pulkovo”. But for other passengers there are comfortable seats for waiting for flights. In 2011, this hub served 9 million passengers.
Pulkovo today
There was only one inconvenience in this large air harbor of St. Petersburg. The two terminals were quite far apart. There was even detailed instruction on how to a hurrying passenger to get from Pulkovo-1 to 2 and vice versa. But there was still confusion, and often the passengers were late for the flight due to the fact that they got off the bus not where they needed to. Especially when charters became popular. They were even assigned to Pulkovo-1 to unload the runway of the main international hub.
To prevent such confusion, a new terminal was opened in 2013. He combined the old building Pulkovo-1 and new halls. The second terminal has ceased to function. Now that the airports of St. Petersburg have been merged, we will tell you how to get from the new, beautiful, comfortable Pulkovo to the city center. Buses No. 39 and 39-E (express), as well as the K-39 minibus, go to the Moskovskaya metro station. Travel time - from 20 minutes to half an hour.