St Petersburg airport show over 10% decline in volume in the first ten months.

Published: 12/9/1999

Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg showed a 10.9% decline in volume over the first ten months of 1999, with 2.14m passengers. International and CIS passengers, accounting for about half of the airport"s volume, decreased by 22.8% and 31.9% respectively, offsetting the 22% improvement in domestic passengers. Cargo traffic volumes also declined by 28.1% over the period, carrying a total of 16,709 tonnes, with all cargo areas affected .The 7.7% fall in the domestic market was less than in other areas and reflects the slow recovery being experienced by other market participants elsewhere in Russia around the middle of 1999. For associated Pulkovo Airlines, volumes over the period rose by 3.5% holding growth back, with the collapse in international and CIS routes being the major contributor. These fell by 23.5% and 23.6% respectively, accounting for over 50% of the airline"s business. Cargo showed a decline of 9.8%, although this was substantially better than that of the airport itself In terms of market share, traffic volumes in the period attributable to the airline have seen a substantial improvement overall, moving from 49% of passengers to 54%, although international business remained unchanged. Cargo traffic saw a similar rise in share from 27% to 34% overall. Rumoured in the market to be under pressure for some time, Pulkovo Airlines appears unexpectedly to be holding on to its strong position at St Petersburg. With its share of international traffic remaining unchanged in 1999, Pulkovo may now be addressing its static share, having recently announced a linkup with Aeroflot in what appears to be an effort to prevent leakage of passengers to other operators on internationals flights, by cooperating on international flights and on flights from St. Petersburg to Moscow,

Article ID: 1197