In September 2019 Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, the largest airport in Russia became the first in Eastern Europe to operate three runways. The airport is counting on the runways and new passenger terminals to increase its passenger numbers by a factor of 1.5 to 65 million people by 2030. The target opens vast opportunities for the Sheremetyevo’s base carrier Aeroflot , Russia’s largest airline, as well as its subsidiaries and SkyTeam alliance partners.
Today, Sheremetyevo International (IATA code: SVO), which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, continues to lead the Russian market in terms of operational results. Last year it was accountable for 47.1 per cent of the combined traffic volume of the Moscow Aviation Cluster (which includes the city’s three large airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo ). For the first nine months of 2019 the airport handled 38.1 million passengers – roughly half of Moscow Aviation Cluster’s combined traffic and 22 per cent of the entire number of passengers who traveled through Russian airports. (Sheremetyevo) BENEFITS FOR AIRLINES
Airport’s ground infrastructure is as important for airlines as its price policy towards airline customers. Infrastructure restriction can impede airlines’ development plans. Earlier, Sheremetyevo’s capacity was limited by its two parallel runways located near each other, which cannot be used for simultaneous parallel operations. With the construction of the third runway the number of aircraft movements through Sheremetyevo has increased from 60 to 90 per hour. The airfield capacity now matches the airport’s expanding passenger terminal capacity and allows for growth targets.
The roadmap for 2020 includes service entry of a new hangar complex adjacent to the third runway, which features aircraft maintenance base with seven hangars, ramps, ground handling equipment and other airport facilities. Opening of an apron with 40 aircraft parking slots is scheduled for 2022.
Launch of the third runway also provides relief for runway-1, built in 1953, and allows for its gradual reconstruction. Four taxiways will be repaired, and two more high-speed taxiways built linking the original runway with the airport’s Northern terminal complex. The runway’s engineering and communication networks will be upgraded and fitted with ice build-up alerting system. (Aeroflot) In November Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya issued an approval for re-opening of the Terminal C, which had been under reconstruction. The terminal designated for international flights will serve its first passengers in January 2020. With more than 127,300 sqm of floor area, it has the capacity to […]
