Estonia-based Europeanwide coach operator Lux Express announced it would start serving routes between St. Petersburg and Moscow and Pskov this summer thus extending its network. The move seems to be reasonable as tourist traffic is rising on these routes, though as well as competition among carriers.
Now Lux Express is operating a few routes from St. Petersburg, all of them are international, to Helsinki, Tallinn and Riga. This year, for the first time the company enters the domestic passenger transportation market launching flights to the cities of Moscow and Pskov. The idea is absolutely reasonable as numbers of tourists for both destinations have been on the steady rise over two recent years.
But much will depend on fare Lux Express will offer the market. Nowadays, getting to Moscow from St. Petersburg is possible by air, rail and bus, all transport modes provide a few departures a day at rather decent prices with air flight being booked for just 1500-200 rubles on some days.
The same situation is on the St. Petersburg-Pskov route with a few companies operating here with a wide range of fleet from mini-buses to coaches departing daily.
Though, Lux Express has a great advantage — its brand much respected by Russian passengers. During the January problems, the passengers were supporting the Estonian company on its page in the Facebook network.