In January 1931, construction of an aerodrome near Leningrad (Saint Petersburg's official name between 1924 and 1991 and the source of the airfield's IATA code of "LED" [3]) commenced and was completed on 24 June 1932, with the first aircraft arriving at 17:31 that day, after a two-and-a-half hour flight from Moscow carrying passengers and mail.

Construction was abruptly put on hold in July 1941, one month after Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR on 22 June 1941.

The airport was cleared of the Germans in January 1944, and cargo and mail flights were resumed after the runways were repaired in 1945.

The 5 cups on top were put intentionally to give the terminal a more spacious feeling and allow more natural sunlight to pass through.

[13] On 11 April 1986, the new departure and arrival zones for the international terminal were completed, doubling the passenger traffic rate capacity of Pulkovo 1.

Also in 2005, Rosavia declares that Pulkovo Airport (still state-owned) is to have an open tender on an investment project of the new terminal construction.

In 2009, the Saint Petersburg Transportation Ministry requested that an operating company for Pulkovo Airport be created, and a consortium known as NCG (Northern Capital Gateway) was set up by Russian VTB Capital Bank, international Fraport AG Company, and the Greek Copelouzos Group.

On 24 November 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended a ceremony celebrating the beginning of construction on the new 150,000 m2 Terminal 1.

This follows a five-year test agreement permitting non-Russian airlines to operate flights from multiple European destinations into the airport under an OpenSkies/Seventh-freedom traffic right[14] The test follows an easing of visa requirements for many European nationals wishing to visit the St Petersburg region designed to increase tourism to the city through the airport.

The Ukrainian drones and Russian air defence missiles fired to stop the attack led to all flights from the Pulkovo airport being suspended between 3:53 a.m. and 5:11 a.m.[16] This historic terminal, opened in 1973, is 43,000 m2 (460,000 sq ft).

[citation needed] In November 2013, the airport was tested for errors by over 5,200 residents of Saint Petersburg who partook in the process.

The airport has 88 check-in counters, 110 passport booths, 7 baggage carousels, 110 parking stands, 17 gates, and 17 escalators.

The new Terminal also sought many artistic sculptures and paintings to give http://line-stargadget.ru/ Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine a sense of thriving culture to passengers.

Due to the impact of aviation in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, destinations to the European Union, United Kingdom, Australasia, North America, Switzerland, Singapore, Northeast Asia, Taiwan, Iceland and Norway are suspended until further notice.

[72] In November 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree temporarily removing foreign investors from managing the airport.

They will retain their shares, but the votes will be controlled by two Russian companies - NCG Holding and Advanced Industrial and Infrastructure Technologies-7.