For the first time ASM, the world route development consultants, are running a training course in the CIS region. This inaugural CIS programme gets off to flying start with not one, but two courses being held in St. Petersburg; The Fundamentals of Route Development, 5-6 February 2013 and a Traffic Forecasting Masterclass, 7-8 February 2013.

ASM has over 15 years experience in running the industry’s most recognised and highly regarded route development training programmes for airports and organisations interested in making route development happen. Both of these courses are aimed at route development professionals at all levels and the promise of cold weather in St Petersburg in February has not deterred the delegates! Currently eight delegates are booked onto each course with representation from several countries and 10 different airports.

It is symbolic that the location for the first ever CIS based training is St. Petersburg given that ASM has completed two very successful projects with St. Petersburg International Pulkovo Airport in the past. ASM provided overall support and played an important role in attracting Emirates to St. Petersburg. ASM were also appointed as traffic advisor to the regional government as part of the privatisation of St. Petersburg. This was the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the aviation sector in the region and one of the first within all sectors in the region.

“The CIS region is an exciting market for ASM as there is a lot happening right now,” says Tony Griffin, Senior Vice President ASM. He further explains: “ASM has extensive experience of the CIS market and this is a great opportunity for route development professionals in the CIS to get together as well as further develop their skills & knowledge of their industry.”

Evgeny Ilyin, Chief Commercial Officer of Saint Petersburg International Pulkovo Airport commented: “St. Petersburg is delighted to be hosting the first ASM training course to take place in CIS region and we look forward to furthering our knowledge and understanding of route development which we can apply to our future dealings with airlines.”

To date, St. Petersburg International Pulkovo Airport, which is the third largest airport in Russia (after Moscow Domodedovo and Moscow Sheremetyevo), remains the only airport in the country to implement a PPP. The "Northern Capital Gateway" is an international consortium, formed by VTB Capital, Fraport AG, the world's leading airport operator with its headquarters in Frankfurt, and the Greek investment group Copelouzos.

St. Petersburg International Pulkovo Airport currently serves 157 scheduled destinations with 70 scheduled airlines with 38% of its passenger traffic generated by Rossiya the airport’s base carrier. It is one of the few airports in Russia to have implemented an incentives scheme for airlines and in 2012 was the winner of the first ever CIS regional heat of the Routes Airport Marketing Awards. At present a project is underway at the airport to build a new passenger terminal with a capacity of 17 million passengers. The expected completion of this project is during the first quarter of 2014.

For more information visit www.asm-global.com