‘The city of Yekaterinburg proves to be one of our most effective business development directions in Europe,’ Bart Buyse, General Director St Petersburg and Russian Regions at Lufthansa German Airlines said at a recent press conference in Yekaterinburg.

The airline reports their passenger turnover increases faster in Yekaterinburg than it does in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, which makes the former one of the three top cities for Lufthansa.

Lufthansa executive said during the conference that Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg has all the potential needed to become a hub, but its transformation into a hub must take a few years.

‘It took Frankfurt ten years to become one,’ he observed.

‘In fact, Koltsovo does not necessarily need to become a mega-hub. It could be a hub of regional importance, given especially Yekaterinburg’s fortunate geographical position,’ Lufthansa representative noted.

Nevertheless, Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft to date (Lufthansa operates four such planes), is not going to perform landings in Yekaterinburg.

‘This is a long-haul aircraft type, so passengers flying from, say, America to India won’t find it convenient to make two landings in Frankfurt and Yekaterinburg, and Frankfurt remains our key airport for now,’ Buyse said.