Moscow airport restrictions delay Türkiye flights by up to 12 hours

Restrictions at Moscow airports caused by drone attacks affected flights to Türkiye: a Turkish Airlines flight from Vnukovo to Antalya departed nearly 12 hours late, while none of the 17 flights from Antalya to Russia left on schedule.

Restrictions imposed on operations at Moscow airports because of drone attacks also affected air traffic with Türkiye. TourDom reported that Turkish Airlines flight TK 3199 from Vnukovo to Antalya, scheduled to depart at 00:50 on October 31, took off at 12:26, nearly 12 hours late. Pobeda flight DP 995 to Istanbul departed 4.5 hours late.

On the return route, delays accumulated in Antalya because aircraft held up in Moscow could not return on time. Turprom reports that none of the 17 flights from Terminal T2 at Antalya Airport to Russian cities departed as scheduled: delays ranged from 40 minutes to 8.5 hours and exceeded 55 hours in total.

Самолет Turkish Airlines заходит на посадку во Внукове (архив)

Pegasus flight PC 5190 to Vnukovo was delayed by about seven hours, with passengers waiting to depart from midnight until 8 a.m. Passengers on Aeroflot flight SU 2149 to Sheremetyevo faced the longest wait, at 8.5 hours. The delays also affected flights operated by Turkish Airlines, Ural Airlines, Nordwind, Azimuth, Red Wings, Pobeda and Belavia.

On October 29, Turkish Airlines flight TK411 from Istanbul to Vnukovo was unable to land in Moscow because of restrictions in the airspace and diverted to the alternative airport at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo, the Turkish aviation publication Herdem Aviation reported.

Temporary restrictions were imposed again at Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo on Saturday morning, followed by Domodedovo. According to Flightradar24, by noon, 23 flights had been canceled and 96 delayed at Vnukovo, while 13 had been canceled and 127 delayed at Sheremetyevo. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that air defense forces had destroyed six drones flying toward Moscow.

Sheremetyevo's press service said the airport was operating flights on an adjusted schedule and asked passengers to be prepared for longer waits, including on board. Passengers traveling to Türkiye or returning from there should check their flight status in advance on the airline's and airport's websites.

Moscow airport restrictions delay Türkiye flights by up to 12 hours