Does anybody have experience flying on this airline? I need to get 2 people from LED to LHR (first choice) or HEL (second choice) in early August. BA and Finnair tix are pretty expensive. Travelocity came up with Pulkovo. I've never heard of them but they seem to fly a number of routes.

Any and all experiences/thoughts would be appreciated. The specific question, I guess, is "would you put your flying phobic parents on this airline?"

Thanks!

Other than BA, there isn't an airline that flies LED-LON direct/non-stop on a daily basis [Edited to add that FV has non-stop LED-LON flights on certain days of the week -- see posts below]. Since you already have a ticket for HEL-LHR, connecting elsewhere (e.g. MOW/AMS/CPH/ARN/FRA/PRG/MUC) wouldn't probably make much sense.

As for Pulkovo [FV], they are a good airline with in-flight service that would typically exceed that of most Western-European airlines, most of which are cutting corners these days.

Their English-version website is at:
http://eng.pulkovo.ru/

However, keep in mind that they do fly that route on a TU-154/TU-154M jet (not that there is anything wrong with it, but it may be an issue for "flying phobic parents").

Also, Travelocity will probably not be able to issue a ticket for that airline (even though they will let you book it online). Also keep in mind that the fares will likely be significantly lower if you purchase the tickets from within Russia or through a Russian travel agent.

[KVS Availability Tool - Sabre: AUA/*A]
LED St Petersburg Pulkovo RU [ULLI]
HEL Helsinki-Vantaa FI [EFHK]
16 Jan 2005

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- -- --------------------------------------------
FV 229 LED 19:40 HEL 19:30 TU5 0 C4 D4 Y4 M4 K4 V4 T4 Q4 G0 H4 L4 X0 W0 B4 N0 S0 E0 U4 Z4 I4 P0 O4

Flying from LED to HEL (187 mi as the crow flies) is actually about the weirdest option if you ask locals. Russians would drive or take the train (bus if the money is tight), Finns would take the cruise (for the duty free booze). So if the 2 people in question would feel uncomfortable goinng through LED and flying a Tupolev 154, I'd suggest they take the night train (the Russian one is marginally more comfortable than the Finnish one) or the night cruise (better still, if they can tolerate hordes of drunken Finns). Early August should provide an almost White Night experience, so taking the plane would be just waisting this opportunity

There isn't an airline that flies LED-LON direct/non-stop.

BA does fly LED-LHR non-stop (BA 879, departs LED at 5:05 PM, arrives LHR at 5:40 PM), and so does FV (Pulkovo Air), albeit not every day (FV 297, departs LED at 9:55
AM, arrives LHR at 10 AM and FV 299, departs LED at 1:20 PM, arrives LHR at 1:25 PM). IMHO, FV's TU-154M's are not that different from B727's.

Early August should provide an almost White Night experience

Early August would not provide anything even close to a White Night experience, as white nights in St. Petersburg are over by early July.

BA does fly LED-LHR non-stopOops, what I meant was that there is no airline other than BA that does that route on a daily basis -- the OP already mentioned in another thread that he was looking for an alternative to BA because of the cost and also because he was unable to get an award seat on LED-BA-LHR.

Oops, what I meant was that there is no airline other than BA that does that route

See my post above - FV also does fly LED-LHR non-stop (not daily though).

Early August would not provide anything even close to a White Night experience, as white nights in St. Petersburg are over by early July.

I don't think you get more than a couple of hours of dusk (somewhere between 2 and 4 AM?) at this time of the year. I can check this with my wife who is from StPete, if you want

Also, Travelocity will probably not be able to issue a ticket for that airline (even though they will let you book it online). Also keep in mind that the fares will likely be significantly lower if you purchase the tickets from within Russia or through a Russian travel agent.


I flew on Pulkovo from ZRH to LED and back last June...the White Nights were great. I agree that the hardest part was purchasing the ticket. Neither the US Travelocity site nor American Express was able to sell it, although travelocity.de was (that's how I finally got it). I have the impression that most European travel agents are set up with the appropriate contracts but that essentially no American ones are. At one point, I found that Delta had a ticketing agreement with Pulkovo, so you could possibly get the ticket from a Delta ticket counter if you have no other options.

The Tupolev aircraft did have its peculiarities...for instance, the tray tables seemed to be hand-forged (think of the blacksmith shop in the old Western movies), with each one a little bit different. The lunch that was served on the outbound flight was quite good by airline economy class food standards. Exactly the same meal was served as breakfast on the return flight, where it didn't seem at all appropriate.

See my post above - FV also does fly LED-LHR non-stop (not daily though).You're right, however only FV 299 arrives into LHR -- I just checked the timetable and for the month of August 2005 FV does operate LED-LGW on Wed/Sun and LED-LHR on Sat (flight numbers and times vary):


[KVS Availability Tool - Sabre: AUA/*A]
03 Aug 2005 (Wednesday)

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- -- -----------------------------------------------------------------
FV 297 LED 13:25 LGW 13:25 TU5 0 C4 D4 Y4 M4 K4 V4 T4 Q4 G4 H4 L4 X4 W4 B4 N4 S4 E4 U4 Z4 I4 P4 O4


06 Aug 2005 (Saturday)

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- -- -----------------------------------------------------------------
FV 299 LED 09:55 LHR 10:00 TU5 0 C0 D0 Y4 M4 K4 V4 T4 Q4 G0 H4 L4 X0 W0 B4 N0 S0 E0 U0 Z0 I4 P4 O4


07 Aug 2005 (Sunday)

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- -- -----------------------------------------------------------------
FV 297 LED 07:30 LGW 07:30 TU5 0 C0 D0 Y4 M4 K4 V4 T4 Q4 G0 H4 L4 X0 W0 B4 N0 S0 E0 U0 Z0 I4 P4 O4

You're right, however only FV 299 arrives into LHR -- I just checked the timetable and for the month of August 2005 FV does operate LED-LGW on Wed/Sun and LED-LHR on Sat (flight numbers and times vary)

Good point, I saw one flight getting into LHR and didn't even think to check if the other one goes into the same airport in LON. :o

I don't think you get more than a couple of hours of dusk (somewhere between 2 and 4 AM?) at this time of the year. I can check this with my wife who is from StPete, if you want

Feel free to check with your wife, although I've been to St. Petersburg more than enough times to know that in early August nights are substantially longer than 2 hours between 2 and 4 am... ;)

It's a bit off-topic, but if you really want to experience white nights there in its full glory, the best time is mid- to late June. You can get some feel for it as late in the summer as mid-July, but that's pretty much as late as you can expect to experience this beautiful phenomenon in St. Petersburg.

My wife says you are right so - my apologies. But White nights or not, I'd take the cruise any way

Have flown on Pulkovo many times between LED and SVO1. In all types of weather and in every season. In fact will be on Pulkovo again in a few weeks. I would not have any qualms about flying Pulkovo. One of the posters is quite correct. If you have a way to purchase the ticket in Russia, the price will be much better. Overhead storage bin a tad bit small for carry-on bags. Other than that I've had no problems

I flew on Pulkovo from ZRH to LED and back last June...the White Nights were great. I agree that the hardest part was purchasing the ticket. Neither the US Travelocity site nor American Express was able to sell it, although travelocity.de was (that's how I finally got it). I have the impression that most European travel agents are set up with the appropriate contracts but that essentially no American ones are. At one point, I found that Delta had a ticketing agreement with Pulkovo, so you could possibly get the ticket from a Delta ticket counter if you have no other options.

The Tupolev aircraft did have its peculiarities...for instance, the tray tables seemed to be hand-forged (think of the blacksmith shop in the old Western movies), with each one a little bit different. The lunch that was served on the outbound flight was quite good by airline economy class food standards. Exactly the same meal was served as breakfast on the return flight, where it didn't seem at all appropriate.
I flew on Pulkovo o/w LED-FRA in August. I bought the ticket through the US Travelocity, and they ticketed it without any problem. Got a funny look at check-in, since it looked like I was the only passenger on that flight with a "western-style" ticket.

I echo the comments about Pulkovo being a fine airline. The Tu-154 is significantly louder than your normal western aircraft, and it looks a little gloomier inside. That said, the interior was in good condition and clean. Service was better than on US airlines, and from what I've heard, is better than Western European airlines also. The chicken meal seemed a little odd at 6:30 AM, but it tasted quite good. About the flying-phobic parents, never did I feel that safety was any laxer than on any western airline. (Unlike on a Yak-40 on a different airline out in Siberia) The seatbacks that fold forward may seem a little odd to the parents, but I kinda like that feature of Russian airline seats. The travel experience, thanks to the Russian plane, is a little different, but I seriously doubt that anyone would be scared during the flight.

Agreed, it is a fine airline. The planes are generally old Tupolevs, but they are fine.

You might even want to price business class tickets. I have flown LED (St. Petersburg) to SVO (Moscow) in both Y and C. C was not that much more expensive. Best meal ever on a short flight in C (a couple of years ago), caviar and salmon. One does not even get that in First Class anymore.

The bathrooms are not the most modern, but they are clean. One weird thing is when they come around and sell magazines.