Moscow Airports Face Daily Nine-Hour Closures Due to Drones
Four major Russian airports have suspended operations for up to nine hours daily in October under a strict aviation safety protocol triggered by Ukrainian drone activity.
By John Wilson ·
Ukrainian drone strikes have grounded flights at four major Moscow airports for up to nine hours a day this month.
According to the investigative outlet Agentstvo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo airports have suspended operations almost every day in October. On several occasions, the closures lasted for nine consecutive hours. This disruption marks an escalation in a pattern that has persisted for months.
The closures follow a directive from Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya known as the carpet protocol. Under this rule, airspace over a region closes immediately if an aircraft violates Russian borders, weapons are used, or unidentified objects appear in the sky. The protocol imposes strict limits on all air traffic until the threat is cleared.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined the strategy in early September. He stated that Ukraine would seek to cut off airspace around Moscow and other Russian destinations. He addressed airlines and travelers directly, saying, 'Russian airspace will become completely unsafe.' The following day, Ukraine sent a similar warning to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Oleksandr Laneckij, chief executive of Friendly Avia Support, explained that the protocol is triggered by the presence of drones. He told Deutsche Welle that essentially, every drone poses a military threat. Laneckij compared the situation to the Houthis in Yemen, who disrupted Saudi airspace, noting that Ukraine’s military capabilities far exceed those of the Houthis.
Military analyst Jan Matvejev argued that disrupting air traffic around Moscow is not difficult for Ukraine. He said that triggering the protocol requires only simple drones without warheads or long range. Matvejev noted that Ukraine’s arms industry can produce hundreds of combat-ready long-range drones a day. He added that Russian air defenses have not fully neutralized the threat, stating, 'If it were possible to shoot them down, they would have done so by now.'
Both experts warned of risks to civilian flights. Laneckij said Russia might lower the threshold for declaring the carpet protocol. This could increase the danger of incidents similar to the 2024 Christmas day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, where a Russian air-defense missile killed 38 people. Matvejev said that while shooting down low-flying drones with machine guns poses low risk, missiles carry a higher danger due to potential defects in mass production. He also noted that a collision between a large drone and an airplane can be serious even without explosives.
Foreign airlines deciding whether to keep flying to Russia will weigh the military threat against demand and insurance costs. Laneckij said that if insurers rate the risk as very high, premiums could rise sharply, pushing ticket prices up. He concluded that the decision depends on the price carriers must pay for the danger faced. Drone debris has also recently fallen on Sochi airport, and Ukrainian forces attacked Pskov airport in the summer of 2023.
Source: Deutsche Welle
