Passenger traffic from the UAE and Iran to St. Petersburg increased by 80%

Pulkovo Airport is recording an increase of tourist traffic from the Middle East in 2023, Asiyat Khalvashi, commerce director of the airport informed.

“The Middle East market is actively developing. Passenger traffic between Pulkovo and the UAE and Iran destinations is showing an increase of 80%,” she said.

We are talking about the volume of traffic for December in comparison with the figure for the same period in 2022.

“The issue of launching new Middle Eastern destinations is being considered. The market potential is up to 1 million passengers per year,” she noted.

Khalvashi recalled that in 2023, 11 new destinations were opened, 11 new foreign companies appeared, flights to Abu Dhabi were launched for the first time in history, and the first direct regular flight to North Africa (Algeria) was scheduled.

Earlier, Nikita Kondratyev, director of the department of multilateral economic cooperation and special projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, said that the introduction of a visa-free regime is being worked out with a number of countries in the Middle East. According to him, in 2023, about 50 thousand travelers came to Russia under an agreement on group tourist trips with China and Iran.

As it was reported, the tourist flow to St. Petersburg by the end of 2023 could amount to 9,4 million people, of which 574 thousand are foreigners. Thus, the increase in the share of foreign tourists will be 68% compared to 2022. Among non-CIS countries in terms of the number of trips to St. Petersburg, the TOP-5 includes China, Iran, Turkey, India and the UAE.