Air attack threat in Russian skies: 350 flights canceled, tens of thousands of passengers stranded

At least 350 flights have been canceled at major airports in Russia since the evening of May 6 due to drone attacks, the Russian Association of Tour Operators said. The restrictions reportedly affected more than 60,000 passengers, including those flying to foreign destinations such as Istanbul and Dubai.

The problem began at Moscow's largest airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. These airports temporarily suspended flights due to the threat of drone attacks. Later, Sheremetyevo Airport also faced similar restrictions.

According to the Tour Operators Association, the closure of airports was not limited to Moscow, but airports in cities such as Sochi, Kazan, Kirov and Nizhnekamsk were also forced to temporarily suspend their operations. According to Rosaviatsia, similar security measures were also taken in Kaluga, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Tambov.

In connection with the incident, on May 7, serious delays and cancellations were observed in flights of foreign airlines such as flydubai, Turkish Airlines, AJet and Pegasus. A special plan called "Cover" was introduced at Kaluga and Zhukovsky airports. This, in turn, led to a delay in departure and arrival times by several hours.

At the same time, the rerouting of some flights also caused additional problems. Planes that were supposed to arrive in Moscow were diverted to St. Petersburg's Pulkovo, Mineralnye Vody, Ufa, Perm, Saratov and Kazan airports. In particular, Pulkovo airport received more than 70 planes unplanned. This led to a large queue and overload in the operation of airport services.

According to Baza, the queues at Pulkovo Airport were caused by a lack of ramps. Planes had to wait up to two hours for their turn, and passengers were not even offered water. As a result, passengers were stuck on planes for several hours in difficult conditions, which caused many complaints from them.

It is currently being noted that this air transport crisis has seriously affected not only passengers, but also tour operators in the country. As a result of the change in the plans of tens of thousands of tourists, tourism companies may also suffer significant financial losses.

So far, officials have not given any specific information about when this situation will be completely resolved. However, Russian aviation authorities say that security measures have been taken and that they will continue to monitor the situation.

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