OREANDA-NEWS. On March 30th, 2015, Brussels Airlines, Belgium’s national carrier, opened direct regular flights from Pulkovo Airport Saint Petersburg to Brussels. The flights will be operated throughout the Summer season 2015, until late October.

The airline will perform flights three times a week; on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; in comfortable Airbus A319 aircraft. The flight duration is three hours. At 01:27 p.m. on March 30th, the first Brussels Airlines passengers arrived at Pulkovo on flight SN 2837.

“The Brussels Airlines’ coming to Pulkovo, and resumption of direct flights to Brussels, is a long-awaited event for us. Flights from St. Petersburg on this route have not been operated since 2007, however, St. Petersburg and Brussels have multi-layered cultural and business relations. For several years running, the Belgian capital headed the list of the most requested travel destinations in Europe which had no direct connection with St. Petersburg. I am sure that the new flight will be popular both among citizens of the North-Western Region of Russia and Belgium,” said Evgeniy Ilyin, Chief Commercial Officer of Northern Capital Gateway, Pulkovo Airport’s Managing Company.

The airline chose a special aircraft for the launch of this new route. An aircraft decorated in the style of The Adventures of Tintin, a famous Belgian comic, arrived at St. Petersburg. This unique aircraft was just recently presented to the world, on March 16th. The collaborative work of Brussels Airlines and Moulinsart turned the conventional aircraft into a 37 m long shark-shaped submarine, like the one that Professor Calculus offered to Tintin in order to safely explore the depths of the ocean in Red Rackham’s Treasure album. Because of this, the aircraft was named Rackham. The cabin is also decorated with familiar characters created by the Belgian artist Herg?.

In June, Brussels Airlines will serve as an official carrier of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Special fares for Brussels Airlines’ direct flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg will be offered to forum participants from 10 to 25 June.

Brussels Airlines is a member of Lufthansa Group and of the Star Alliance global airline alliance. The airline operates a modern fleet of forty-six aircrafts, including twenty-three Airbus A319 and A320s, eight Airbus A330s, twelve Avro RJ100s, and three Bombardier DH8-Q400s.