European carriers get Russia access from EX-YU countries
European-registered airlines, including low cost carriers, will now be permitted to operate flights from Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia to St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport. As a result, they will no longer be restricted by stringent bilateral air agreements in force between these countries and Russia, however, the rights are only valid for St Petersburg. No other Russian city allows seventh freedom flights which permits international carriers to maintain services between two countries they are not registered in. St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport projects that the permissions will help boost its annual passenger traffic from its current twenty million to 35 million by 2025. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation approved a list of thirty countries for which such rights will be enforced. They include the three former Yugoslav states.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Maxim Akimov, endorsed the policy, adding it would undergo a five-year trial period. “The seventh freedom rights are unprecedented for Russia”, Mr Akimov said. Leonid Sergeyev, who heads Pulkovo’s managing company Northern Capital Gateway, noted, “By obtaining this permission, St Petersburg has opened up to low cost foreign airlines”. At the end of the five-year pilot project, Mr Akimov said the routes “could either be handed over to Russian airlines or stay with the foreigners”. President Vladimir Putin was reported this summer to have backed the airport’s proposal, while Russia’s domestic airlines have opposed Pulkovo’s move, citing increased competition.
Wizz Air is a prime candidate to exercise these rights from Serbia and Macedonia where it boasts a base. While Air Serbia maintains seasonal flights between Belgrade and St Petersburg, there are no services between Macedonia and Russia. Similarly, there are no flights between Slovenia and St Petersburg. However, it is likely that Europe’s budget carriers will primarily focus on exercising these rights from Western Europe. The policy gives permission for any carrier from the selected countries to operate from the other to St Petersburg. As a result, this could be utilised by Air Serbia as well. The countries from which there will be seventh freedom rights to St Petersburg include: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and Estonia. On the other hand, some restrictions will be applied for the following countries: Austria (only flights from Vienna will be permitted), Bulgaria (only flights from Sofia), the United Kingdom (only London), Germany (only Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich), Spain (only Barcelona and Malaga), Italy (only flights from Rome and Milan) Cyprus (only Larnaca and Paphos), France (only Paris and Niece) and Czech Republic (only flights from Prague will be permitted).
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