Folded wings: Moscow airports are taking measures to return to schedule

Moscow airports have warned about an increase in passenger service time amid a series of night drone attacks recorded on July 19-20. Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo have already lifted flight restrictions and are taking measures to return to their regular schedule, but flight delays remain. Over the weekend, more than a hundred flights were canceled and rescheduled amid restrictions imposed after the nighttime UAV attacks. The most difficult situation has developed in Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo. The consequences persist on the morning of July 21 — thousands of passengers across the country are forced to wait for flights to the capital's airports, and the waiting rooms of Moscow airways are overcrowded. For more information about the situation at the capital's airports on July 21, see the Izvestia article.

What happens at Moscow airports on July 21

The capital's Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports have lifted flight restrictions and are taking measures to return to their regular schedule. Delayed flights are being prepared for departure.

Sheremetyevo added that flights are sent according to the order of priority, and passenger service time may be increased.

According to the online scoreboard on the morning of July 21, 108 departures and 196 arrivals were delayed at Sheremetyevo, 84 departures and 93 arrivals were canceled. 61 flights and 66 arrivals were delayed in Vnukovo, nine flights and 15 arrivals were canceled. Domodedovo Airport has 22 delayed departures and 21 arrivals, and two flights have been canceled. Five delayed departures and four arrivals were recorded in Zhukovsky.

Over the weekend, Sheremetyevo had the most difficult situation, with the most cancellations and delays on Sunday.

— More than 170 flights were canceled at Sheremetyevo Airport, more than 300 were delayed;

— 24 flights were canceled in Vnukovo, about 120 were delayed;

— 2 flights to Domodedovo were canceled, 43 were delayed;

— 9 flights were delayed in Zhukovsky.

Air limits: what compensation is due for the cancellation of 485 flights

Passengers have the right to send claims to carriers, but they can explain the air collapse by force majeure circumstances.

In addition, the Aeroflot ticket offices temporarily do not refund or reissue tickets. The company warned that the schedule continues to be adjusted with the periodic introduction of time restrictions in the airline on July 20 and 21. Passengers are advised to closely monitor information about flight changes and seek assistance from airline representatives and the Transport Prosecutor's Office.

Amid flight delays, airport waiting rooms turned out to be overcrowded, and some passengers were resettled in hotels. Judging by the footage from the Network, some passengers were sleeping on the floor and on suitcases while waiting for the plane.

On the morning of July 21, it was reported that more than 2.7 thousand passengers were delayed at airports in the Far East due to operating restrictions at Moscow airports. The departures of nine flights from Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Sakhalin to Moscow were postponed due to the late arrival of aircraft, the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office reported.

Guardian of Flight: a UAV protection system has been developed for Russian airports

It will make it possible to disrupt enemy attacks without disrupting the operation of the air harbor's radio equipment.

As Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin explained to reporters, the work of Russian airports will continue to adjust to possible flight delays amid the introduction of the Carpet plan, the authorities understand the possible inconveniences and try to minimize them, but the main thing is the safety of people.

According to him, airports are adjusting: they are adjusting their work with food and rest.

— It's a little better now than it was in May. Colleagues analyze their work. And, I think, in general, there is a dynamic. We will work with colleagues from the Ministry of Defense to try to do something. The inconveniences are understandable, the discomfort is understandable, but no one will risk the safety of passengers," stressed the head of the Ministry of Transport.

Why flights were postponed at Moscow airports

The Moscow region became the target of a massive drone attack over the weekend: according to the Telegram channel of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, 18 drones were destroyed on July 19, and 26 on July 20. According to the Ministry of Defense, from July 18 to July 20, air defense systems on duty shot down 408 Ukrainian aircraft—type drones, 67 of them over Moscow and the region.

In this regard, the Federal Air Transport Agency imposed air traffic restrictions at Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports and a number of regional airfields, for example, in Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Kaluga.

During the restrictions on July 19-20, 134 aircraft were redirected to alternate airfields. 78 flights left Sheremetyevo, 45 from Vnukovo, eight from Domodedovo, and three more planes left Zhukovsky Airport.

The choice of an alternate airfield depends on the technical characteristics of the aircraft, the airport's workload, the availability of an international checkpoint and weather conditions. Planes are often redirected to Nizhny Novgorod or Kazan to minimize deviations from the route.

Due to cancellations and delays, the route between St. Petersburg and Moscow was supported by additional Sapsan trains and an increase in the number of cars on night trains.