Levashovo airfield as a necessary alternative to Pulkovo

Levashovo is a joint airport in St. Petersburg. In 2021, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Gazprom company agreed to reconstruct this facility. It is assumed that the new airport complex in the north of the city will be able to be used by civil aircraft in the future, which will help relieve some of the congestion at Pulkovo Airport. In addition, there is a possibility that the project may have an extremely interesting future for passengers of the Northern capital.

The Levashovo airfield acquired the infrastructure that existed until recently after modernization in 1950. For quite a long time, various aviation units of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union were based on its territory. Since 2007, according to a decree of the government of the Russian Federation, Levashovo has become a joint airfield.



For the first time, plans to endow this airfield with civilian functions appeared in the information space back in 2006. It even came to the point of signing a protocol of intent between the Levashovo Airport company and the military leadership, after which there was some calm, caused, according to some experts, by the fact that the authorities of St. Petersburg considered it unnecessary for a new player in the civil aviation service market to appear in the city. which could in the future become a competitor to Pulkovo Airport.

However, already in 2008, a similar initiative was made by Gazprom-Avia Aviation Enterprise LLC, which was a subsidiary of a well-known gas holding company. The general director of the company, Andrei Ovcharenko, then stated that there are serious plans to use the Levashovo airfield for the development of charter programs - both business and tourist. By that time, Gazprom-Avia’s portfolio already had a successfully implemented similar project. We are talking about Ostafyevo Airport, which is located near Moscow. It is worth noting that the approximate volume of investment in the implementation of this project, according to some experts, could amount to $50 million. The company itself has never disclosed the final cost of modernizing a small capital airport for business aviation.

In 2016, a contract worth 81,516 million rubles was signed to develop documentation for the construction of the airport complex. The customer of the project was Gazprom Sotsinvest LLC, and the investor was PJSC Gazprom. It included the reconstruction of the existing artificial runway and the construction of an apron for seven airliners. In addition, it was announced the construction of an air terminal with a capacity of 50 passengers per hour to serve international and domestic flights. Construction work after preparation of all necessary technical documentation should have started in 2020. It was also planned to connect the future passenger airport to the ring road (Ring Road) of St. Petersburg in the area of ​​Parachute Street; this was supposed to be done for the convenience of Gazprom’s top management. The development of transport infrastructure would reduce travel time from the airport to the headquarters of the gas company, which is located in the Primorsky district of the Northern capital.

In 2021, things finally got off the ground; the Russian Ministry of Defense and Gazprom signed a concession agreement for the reconstruction of the Levashovo airfield. The total investment in the implementation of this project was estimated at 41 billion rubles. Of these funds, 10 billion will be allocated under a concession agreement between Gazprom and the Russian military department. The main work in 2022 consisted of reconstructing the runway, which is 2,6 kilometers long. It was also reported that to receive civilian passengers in Levashovo, two air terminal complexes will be built, the total capacity of which will be 250 people per hour. The first of them will have a throughput capacity of 50 people per hour and is expected to be put into operation in December 2023. The second terminal, which will be the main one, will be able to receive 200 passengers per hour. It should be built by the end of 2024. It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that all design decisions related to the construction of the airport presuppose its further development, therefore, if passenger and cargo transportation begins to develop, all conditions will be created so that Levashovo can handle a larger number of passengers.

The question of the existence of a second airport in St. Petersburg remains debatable. You may recall that until the 90s of the last century, Rzhevka Airport operated in the city, from which regular flights were operated to different cities of Russia. However, in the situation with Levashovo, a slightly different picture is observed; the Gazprom-Avia company is building this airport primarily for the needs of its own business aviation. Similar experience is used in many European cities, where small airfields are used for “small” aircraft, which creates additional convenience for the business community, for ordinary passengers, and for aviation and navigation services. Of course, in the future, its capabilities will make it possible to intercept some of the civil or cargo flights from Pulkovo, given that the capacity of the main airport of St. Petersburg is also not unlimited. The main question is how realistic is this scenario in the current circumstances? economic и political conditions.

To summarize, I would like to add that from the point of view of the infrastructural development of St. Petersburg, this project looks quite feasible. Despite the fact that its prospects remain vague, it is worth recognizing that for a city with a population of more than 5 million people, the presence of only one airport, the capabilities of which could become insufficient at any moment, looks rather strange. Situations are different, so the emergence of an alternative landing site in the immediate vicinity of St. Petersburg can be considered as logical as possible.