Moscow Airports Close Daily for Hours

Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo airports in Moscow have suspended operations for nearly every day in October. On several occasions, these facilities remained closed for as long as nine hours. The independent investigative outlet Agentstvo reported that this pattern of disruption has intensified throughout the month, directly impacting airline schedules and passenger flows.

The current situation follows a strategic shift announced in early September. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine intended to cut off airspace around Moscow and other Russian destinations. He addressed airlines, insurers, and travelers, declaring that Russian airspace would become completely unsafe. The following day, Ukraine sent a matching warning to the International Civil Aviation Organization. This development occurs while Ukrainian airspace has remained closed since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Russian aviation regulator Rosaviatsiya implements a safety procedure known as the carpet protocol. This protocol closes airspace over a region or around affected airports when an aircraft violates borders, weapons are used, or unidentified objects appear. Oleksandr Laneckij, chief executive of Friendly Avia Support, noted that every drone poses a military threat under these rules. He compared the disruption to the impact of Yemen's Houthis on Saudi airspace, adding that Ukraine's military capabilities far exceed those of the Houthis.

Military analyst Jan Matvejev argued that Ukraine can severely disrupt air traffic without fully closing Russian airspace. He stated that triggering the protocol requires only simple drones without warheads or long range. Ukraine's arms industry currently produces hundreds of combat-ready long-range drones daily. Simon Shuster, writing in The Atlantic in October, cited well-informed sources who described Ukraine's efforts as just getting started.

Matvejev suggested that Russian air defenses are not fully effective against these drones. He observed that if it were possible to shoot them down, Russia would have done so by now. He added that Moscow would have deployed more air-defense troops if they were available. Both experts warned about risks to civilian flights. Laneckij said Russia might lower the threshold for declaring the carpet protocol, increasing the danger of incidents similar to the December 2024 crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight. Investigators determined that aircraft was hit by a Russian air-defense missile fired to counter drones, killing 38 people.

Matvejev noted that little has changed in Russia's air-defense protocol since the Azerbaijan Airlines crash. He explained that shooting a low-flying drone with a machine gun poses an extremely low risk to nearby aircraft. However, missiles present a different risk because mass-production defects could send one toward a nearby airliner. He also pointed out that drones do not need explosives to cause harm, as a collision with an airplane can be serious. A drone flown from Ukraine to Moscow must weigh dozens of kilograms.

The disruption has extended beyond Moscow. Ukrainian forces attacked Pskov airport in the summer of 2023, and drone debris fell on Sochi airport earlier this month. Russia has also struck Ukrainian airports. In September, Zelenskyy confirmed that Kyiv's airport and Boryspil, near the capital, were hit. Laneckij said foreign airlines' decision to keep flying to Russia depends on the military threat, demand, and insurance costs. If insurers rate the risk as very high, they could sharply raise premiums, sending ticket prices soaring. Competition in Russia's aviation market has shrunk as many airlines have gone out of business, pushing up demand for seats on remaining foreign carriers.