Nov 25 2010
Fraport AG and its partners in the Northern Capital Gateway consortium today held the festive terminal foundation ceremony - attended by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and St. Petersburg city governor Valentina Matvienko -- to mark the construction launch of a new international passenger terminal at St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport (LED) and the start of a new aviation era in Russia's second largest metropolis.
Speaking at the ceremony, Fraport AG's executive board chairman Dr. Stefan Schulte said: "Today, our consortium has reached another important milestone, only seven months after the successful takeover of airport operations at Pulkovo Airport. During the next three years we will witness the development and transformation of Pulkovo into a highly attractive gateway in Northern Europe."
Schulte was accompanied on his trip to St. Petersburg by Prof. Klaus-Dieter Scheurle, parliamentary state secretary in the German Ministry of Transport, and Uwe Becker, city treasurer for Frankfurt am Main - underscoring the importance of Fraport's Russian project for Germany and for the global airport company's home town.
Fraport has a 35.5 percent holding in the Northern Capital Gateway consortium, which is advancing the development of Pulkovo Airport. The other partners include VTB Bank (50 percent), Cypriot investor Koltseva Holdings Ltd. (7.5) and Copelouzos Group of Greece (7 percent).
Running for 30 years, the airport concession focuses in the first construction phase on building a new passenger terminal, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. Phase one also includes expanding apron areas, modernizing existing infrastructure and constructing a hotel and business center on land bordering the airport. Until 2010, the planned investment volume will reach EUR800 million.
Drawing upon its decades of expertise, Fraport AG is supporting Pulkovo Airport with the planned construction activities as well as airport operations. Responsible for core functions at LED, Fraport provides the chief operations officer, chief financial officer, head of information technology, as well as many other operational experts.
Serving about 6.7 million passengers in 2009, LED is Russia's fourth largest aviation gateway after the three Moscow airports. By October 2010, LED already exceeded the seven million passenger level, nearly a 27 percent jump in traffic compared to the same 10-month period last year. Traffic is expected to hit 8.4 million passengers for the entire year of 2010. Pulkovo - which is situated less than 20 kilometers from downtown St. Petersburg - features two runways for independent takeoffs and landings and two passenger terminals for domestic and international traffic. Currently, LED is served by more than 70 airlines flying to about 130 destinations in Russia, Europe and Asia.
Known as the "Venice of the North", St. Petersburg is a beautiful and historic city of five million inhabitants. Welcoming approximately 4.6 million visitors last year, St. Petersburg is well on its way to becoming one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. St. Petersburg is an important business, cultural and educational center in Russia. A growing and diverse range of international companies have already located in the region.
Source: http://www.fraport.com