The first in three years regular direct flight to Saratov has been performed from Koltsovo international airport (part of the Airports of Regions holding), with 67 passengers heading for Gagarin airport by the first flight of IrAero Airlines.
Yekaterinburg – Saratov flights will be operated by Sukhoi Superjet 100 twice a week Tuesdays and Thursdays, departing at 17:40. From Saratov the flight will depart Wednesdays and Fridays at 13:00. The traveling time will be 2 hours.
In August 2019 Gagarin international airport built from scratch through the effort of the Airports of Regions holding opened its doors. The new airport allows services to be provided for various types of aircrafts operated by dozens of airlines, which is one of the key factors of expanding the geography of flights departing from Saratov, including on regional routes. In October alone the passenger traffic of the new air hub exceeded the load of Saratov’s old airport (Central) by 34% year-on-year.
Koltsovo airport is one of the leaders in regional air transportation. Following the nine months of 2019, the passenger traffic of Yekaterinburg air hub on domestic routes (with the exception of Moscow) exceeded 1.88 million flyers, up 15.5% year-on-year.