Thousands Of Russians Stuck In Airports

Passengers of hundreds of flights faced flight delays for two days.

Ukrainian drone attacks have provoked another collapse in the work of Moscow airports. From July 19 to 21, a total of more than 1,000 flights were delayed and canceled in the capital's air hubs. Thus, July 19, 15 flights were canceled in Sheremetyevo, 30 in Vnukovo and two in Zhukovsky. The next day, July 20, there were already 165 cancelations in Sheremetyevo, 81 in Vnukovo, nine in Domodedovo and one in Zhukovsky. At the same time, passengers of hundreds of flights faced flight delays for two days, according to "Vedomosti".

On the night of Monday, July 21, Moscow airports again worked with restrictions due to air danger. From midnight and throughout the day, more than 170 flights were canceled at Sheremetyevo, 24 at Vnukovo, and two at Domodedovo. 472 flights were delayed, RBC's calculations show. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defense systems shot down 18 Ukrainian drones on July 19, 26 on July 20 and 23 on July 21 as they approached Moscow. The current collapse in Moscow airports is the fourth since early May, when the high tourist season began. Before that, mass flight cancelations and delays were observed on May 6, then on June 10 and from July 5 to 7. At the same time, the total time of closure of each of Moscow air hubs for three months exceeded a day. For the longest time - more than 60 hours - Domodedovo did not work, more than 45 hours - Vnukovo and more than 30 hours - Sheremetyevo, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia calculated. Due to aviation crises, airlines have canceled about 1,000 flights since the beginning of May, and 430 planes were leaving for alternate airfields. This affected at least 200,000 passengers, or one in ten of those who used air transportation, the association said.

Rosaviatsia said it is not yet considering the issue of compensating airlines for flight delays and cancelations. Amid another airport collapse, new Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said the situation in the capital's air hub was "slightly better than it was in May". "Colleagues are analyzing their work. And, I believe, in general there is a dynamic. But in general, neither airports nor airlines can predict it [the introduction of the "Cover" plan]. Of course, we will work with our colleagues from the Ministry of Defense and try to do something. But safety is the first priority here," Nikitin concluded.

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