Pulkovo closed 2025 with 20.8 million passengers — Russia’s second-busiest airport — on an unusual split: domestic traffic cooling for the first time in three years, international up 13% and foreign tourist inflow to the city up 22%.
Pulkovo handled 20.8 million passengers in 2025, essentially flat against 2024’s record 20.9 million: 15.9 million domestic and 4.9 million international. The busiest day of the year — 8 July — saw 79,687 passengers.
Under the flat headline, the mix turned: domestic travel dipped 2.3% in H1 (the first decline in three years, as overheated domestic pricing pushed demand abroad), while international traffic grew 13% over nine months. The New Year window then set its own record: 705,000 passengers in twelve days, +7%.
Seven new routes launched in 2025 — including Andijan, Brest, Varadero/Caracas, Ganja, Sukhum, Nha Trang and Hambantota. Top domestic destinations: Moscow, Kaliningrad, Sochi; top international: Istanbul, Antalya, Minsk, Tashkent, Sharm el-Sheikh. Thailand and China lead outbound leisure growth; Egypt and Turkey hold the volume.
Summer 2026 repeated the record: 6.34 million passengers in June–August, matching the all-time-best summer of 2025, with international up 9% — Astana doubling, Hurghada +62%, Sharm el-Sheikh +55%.
A ₽40bn second-terminal programme with VTB targets up to 30 million passengers a year, with an RZD express rail link planned from Baltiysky station to the new terminal. Pulkovo was also first in Russia to deploy biometric passenger control.
Flat at 20.8 million reads like a plateau; it is actually a rotation. Domestic overheating pushed Russian demand abroad while foreign inflow grew 22% — Pulkovo is quietly rebuilding the international profile it lost in 2022, one visa-free corridor at a time. The 30-million terminal is the bet that the rotation completes.
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