Three European low-cost airlines have submitted applications for flights from Russia

Three European low-cost airlines - British EasyJet, Hungarian WizzAir and the largest low-cost airline in Europe originally from Ireland Ryanair - applied for flights from Pulkovo in August this year and provided route plans for this, writes RBC . It was in Pulkovo that the government decided to open in test mode the so-called seventh "freedom of air", which allows airlines to fly to third countries without landing in the country of registration of the carrier.

Details. For passengers who will fly from Pulkovo, the arrival of three low-cost airlines at once will certainly mean a drop in ticket prices.

• European low-cost airlines will help attract up to 6 million additional tourists to St. Petersburg by 2025, Leonid Sergeev, general director of Northern Capital Gateway (Pulkovo operator), expects. Last year, about 7 million passengers flew to other countries from St. Petersburg, and in the first half of this year - 3.2 million people.
• Among the additional bonuses is the development of the segment of low-cost transportation, including by simplifying the processing and reducing the cost of visas.
• This will also contribute to the implementation of Vladimir Putin's May decree on increasing the share of flights bypassing Moscow, namely, bringing the share of regional air transportation without a transfer in Moscow to 50% of the entire market.
• The seventh degree of "freedom of the air" may also attract other airlines, the operator of Pulkovo believes: "You need to understand - these are those [airlines] who were the first to react before the official announcement of initiatives [on the introduction of the "open skies" system in Pulkovo]," Sergeyev said.

What's wrong here. Russian airlines, as expected, were skeptical about the innovation. In particular, they fear that since St. Petersburg is a seasonal destination for most tourists, foreign low-cost airlines will fly to Pulkovo only in summer, taking the main passenger traffic, and in winter, domestic carriers will not be able to leave, so they will have to work in these directions, incurring losses, said source of RBC in the industry.

• In July of this year, the Association of Air Transport Operators even sent a letter to the Ministry of Transport, in which they reported their fear of losing passenger traffic in favor of foreign carriers.
• For example, the open skies regime does not provide additional opportunities for Russian companies to fly from St. Petersburg abroad, S7 noted. A Kommersant source in another major Russian airline also called the proposed liberalization one-sided: “Ryanair will be able to fly freely from St. Petersburg to Paris, but Russian companies will not. We are categorically against such rules.”

Context. To date, there is no seventh regime of open skies in Russia anywhere. The Fifth Freedom of the Air, which gives foreign airlines the right to take passengers and cargo when landing in Russia for transportation to a third country when flying from their own country, is valid in Vladivostok, Sochi, Kaliningrad and Ulan-Ude. However, the open skies regime brought a tangible effect only in Vladivostok, from where the number of flights to South Korea increased, noted . S7