Domodedovo International Airport

Moscow Domodedovo International Airport ( rus, links=no, аэропорт Домодедово, p=dəmɐˈdʲɛdəvə) (IATA: DME, ICAO: UUDD), formally Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, is an international airport serving Moscow, the capital of Russia. It is located in Domodedovo, Moscow Oblast, south-southeast from the city centre of Moscow. Domodedovo Airport serves regular flights across Russia and Belarus, as well as to various destinations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As of 2024 it is the 4th busiest airport in Russia and Post-Soviet states (after Sheremetyevo, Pulkovo and Vnukovo) as well as 40th busiest airport in Europe.

In 2019, following a naming contest and a presidential decree, the airport was renamed after Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov.

History

The airport is named after the town of Domodedovo, on the territory of which it is located.

Survey work on the construction of the new Capital Airport began in 1948, after a decision by the Politburo. It was then described as special "Facility No. 306".

The Domodedovo Airport is on the former territory of a village called Elgazino (). The village's wrecked wooden houses ( Izba) at and cemetery with 19th century tombstones at remained in the early 21st century, less than a kilometer west of the runway, almost immediately behind the fences. The first mention of Elgazino dates back to the 16th century. In 1550, Tsar Ivan the Terrible gave his voivode and boyar Ivan Vasilyevich Sheremetyev a smaller estate in the Moscow district with 150 quarters of land. In 1627, the village appears again in the records and appears as a village of Elgozino on a pond with five peasant households, in the parish of the Church of the Resurrection in the village of Kolychevo. According to the results of the General Survey of the 1760s, the village already had 25 households and 218 inhabitants. In the 1950s, just before the village was demolished, it had a population of about 200 people.

In 1951, preparatory work on construction began: cutting firebreaks, and construction of access roads, including roads from Paveletskaya.

A 1954 Resolution of the Council of Ministers of 13 November approved the proposal of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the construction of the second airport of the Moscow civil air fleet near the village Elgazino Podolsky (now Domodedovo) Moscow Oblast.

In 1958, a decree of the USSR Council of Ministers enabled completion of construction of the first stage of the airport in 1962.

In 1962, an Order of the Head of Main Directorate of Civil Aviation, issued on 7 April No. 200 ("On the organization of the Moscow Domodedovo airport") ordered "organize as part of the Moscow Transport Aviation Management Directorate the new airport, and continue to call it the Moscow Domodedovo Airport". Therefore, 7 April 1962 is considered the official birthday of the airport. By the end of 1962, after the official approbation, the airport began flights by postal and cargo planes.

Services from Domodedovo began in March 1964 with a flight to Sverdlovsk using a Tupolev 104. The airport, intended to handle the growth of long-distance domestic traffic in the Soviet Union, was officially opened in May 1965. A second runway, parallel to the existing one, entered service eighteen months after the opening of the airport. On 26 December 1975, Domodedovo Airport was selected for the inaugural flight of the Tupolev Tu-144 to Alma Ata.

In 1990s, the airport was privatized and came under the control of the private tourist company (later also an airline) East Line founded by Ural entrepreneurs Anton Bakov and Dmitry Kamenshchik. In 1992, their efforts led to the airport obtaining international status (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 13 July 1992 N 1262-r On the opening of Domodedovo Airport (Moscow) for international flights. Bakov left the business in 1994, and Kamenshchik still heads the company.

The reconstruction of the airport terminal complex began in 1999 as part of the Comprehensive Airport Development Program until 2003, which was approved by the Government of the Moscow Region and the Board of the Federal Air Transport Service of the Russian Federation. According that Program almost complete reconstruction of the airport terminal complex took place, which opened in 2000. The airport do not stop operations during period of construction.

In 2000, as a result of reconstruction, the capacity of the airport complex reached 6,000 passengers per hour: IAL – 2800 passengers per hour, DAL – 3,200 passengers per hour. As a result of this work Domodedovo airport terminal was the first in Russia to successfully pass the certification to ISO 9001:2000.

In 2003, the authoritative British magazine ''Airline Business'' recognized the growth in Domodedovo's passenger traffic as one of the highest among the 150 largest airports in the world. In 2004, the airport was among the hundred leading airports in the world, and by 2005 became the leader in passenger traffic in the Moscow aviation area, a record it held for the next ten years.

By 2009, the terminal floor space was expanded to from in 2004. The renovated terminal and airport facilities allowed the owners of the airport to attract British Airways, China Eastern Airlines, Lufthansa, Royal Air Maroc, Japan Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines who moved their flights from another major international Moscow airport, Sheremetyevo Airport, to Domodedovo. Domodedovo topped Sheremetyevo Airport in terms of passenger traffic becoming the busiest airport in Russia. By 2010, the traffic at Domodedovo rose to over 22 million passengers per year from 2.8 million in 2000.

Domodedovo is Russia's first airport to have parallel runways operating simultaneously. Since the air traffic control tower was redeveloped in 2003, Domodedovo can control over seventy takeoffs and landings per hour. By late in the first decade of the 21st century, the airport had five business lounges set up by individual airlines.

In 2003, the airport began an expansion program designed to obtain approval for wide-body aircraft operations. The runway, taxiways, and parking areas were enlarged and strengthened. In March 2009, it was announced that the approval had been granted, making Domodedovo Airport the first airport in Russia approved for new large aircraft (NLA) operations such as the Airbus A380. The approval signifies that its operations areas comply with size and strength requirements of ICAO Category F standards. The airport has ILS category III A status.

Domodedovo Airport has been the focus of two terrorist-related incidents. In 2004, Muslim suicide bombers managed to pass airport security, board two passenger planes, and carry out the bombings after departure from Domodedovo. Despite the heightened security measures taken after this incident, another suicide bomber attack occurred on 24 January 2011, when an Islamist militant entered the terminal building and detonated a bomb in the arrival hall. As a result, mandatory screening and pat-down practices have been introduced at the airport terminal entrances.

In 2011 during the run-up for the IPO the holding company published information about the final beneficiary at the London Stock Exchange website and specified Kamenshchik as its sole owner. Domodedovo Airport is the only private airport in Russia: the airport operator is DME Limited Group.

On the 11th March 2025 the airport was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike.

Future development

As of January 2016, new concourse extensions adjacent to the current terminal building are under construction. The construction is projected to increase the overall size of the passenger terminal to . The extensions opened in stages in 2012–2014. In May 2015, the new extension of terminal A (the main building) was finished, which contains new offices, an airport lounge and new passport control desks, and its design differs from other terminal parts. All concourses will remain connected and plan to increase the efficiency of the airport operations and passenger connections by using ICAO and IATA transfer technologies. A new parking space was also finished, which can accommodate over 1500 cars.

Airport facilities

Terminals

The project is implemented within the framework of the architectural concept UNDER ONE ROOF: a single terminal allows the most efficient use of the transfer potential of the airport complex. The number of jetways increased to 40, including dual ones for servicing large-capacity aircraft, after the opening of the new segment of the passenger terminal (T2).

Terminal 2

The first stage of Terminal 2 was built as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup program, for international flights. When completed, the international flights operated at concourse B were all shifted to the new segment, which became the second segment of a new passenger terminal and is twice the size of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow – the equivalent of 61 football fields. An area of (segment T2) was mounted to the left wing of the existing terminal. There are about 100 check-in counters, 40 self check-in kiosks, as well as special jetways for the world's largest passenger aircraft, Airbus A380. As a result, the total area of the passenger terminal (including the expansion of the current main segment T1) was more than doubled to nearly . It was designed by the British company RMJM and uses the under-the-roof concept, which means that passengers from all flights will be serviced within a single terminal. One of Europe's largest air hubs – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – operates under this concept. The construction was initially planned to be finished by March 2018, however, due to immediate changes in contractor, the construction was delayed significantly. During 2018, terminal staff worked only in specific arrival and departure zones for football fans, travelling with special fan-centered passports. The terminal was fully completed with all remaining parts left for work, in 2020.

Moscow Domodedovo Airport has commissioned a new segment of the passenger terminal – T2, increasing the area of the air harbor to almost . The total capacity of the airport will exceed 60 million passengers per year. The new segment is 7 floors with a total area of about .

Terminal 3 and Aeroexpress Terminal

In 2021 a new Aeroexpress terminal was opened, connected by a covered walkway to the airport terminal building.

Hotel

In September 2017, a new hotel was opened inside the airport terminal ("Aerotel Express"). This allows passengers transiting through Moscow to stay at a hotel without exiting the terminal (previously transit passengers had to leave the terminal and use a shuttle van to access the nearest hotel). This was the first hotel inside an airport terminal in Russia.

Lounges

Business lounges are available to business class passengers, participants of airline bonus programs and passengers, regardless of the class of the air ticket, who pay for the service in cash.

In 2023 the Horizon lounge opened in the new segment of the passenger terminal (T2) – a lounge-waiting area, a buffet, a coworking area, a shower room and a playroom for children.

Family Service

The baby care room provides facilities for children aged 0 to 14 years. Family Service guests have access to playrooms, bedrooms and changing room, as well as a dining area with kitchen.

DME MED

The first in Russia consultative and diagnostic clinic based on the airport's medical center is located in the new segment of the passenger terminal. The clinic offers a full range of laboratory tests, including genetic, as well as a wide range of functional, medical ultrasound, cosmetology and psychological services.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many countries have moved to ban Russian airlines from their air space and many countries ban airlines from flying in and out of Russian airspace. Other airlines from the European Union, North America, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore have indefinitely suspended their services to Domodedovo.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Domodedovo:

Cargo

Statistics

Annual traffic

Other facilities

* Russian Sky Airlines had its head office on the airport property.
* Transaero had its head office at Domodedovo Airport.
* When Domodedovo Airlines existed, its head office was on the airport property.

Ground transportation

Rail

The airport has a railway station with service to the Paveletsky Rail Terminal in central Moscow. The rail connection, which was completed in 2002, provides Aeroexpress trains (takes 45 min; coach class costs 500 rubles, business class costs 1,000 rubles), with two stops at Paveletsky Rail Terminal and Verkhnie Kotly railway station.

Regular suburban commuter trains in the Paveletsky suburban railway line take 65 to 70 min and cost 198 rubles, but are infrequent during the day.

Bus

Connection to Moscow is served by bus 308, 1185 Aeroexpress and commercial marshrutka

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