Russia's St Petersburg airport expects to host Ryanair, other LCCs in 2020

Ryanair and other budget carriers are expected to start flying from Russia's St Petersburg airport in 2020, the Russian Transport Ministry said. The move is part of Russia's plan to boost tourist flows to St Petersburg and will mean more competition for Russian air carriers, including Aeroflot. The ministry said Tuesday that Ryanair, EasyJet, WizzAir, Volotea, Air Baltic and Fly One had expressed interest in flights from St Petersburg Pulkovo, Russia's fourth largest after Moscow's 3 major hubs. It said the companies had applied for flights from Pulkovo including Britain, Germany and France. Russia will introduce a so-called "Open Skies" regime for the companies 5 five years, the ministry said, allowing airlines to fly to St Petersburg without requiring the traditional bilateral inter-governmental agreements. <br/>