MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The blizzard that hit the Moscow region Thursday morning has forced all local airports to declare they have to operate “on the basis of actual weather conditions” in their area, the Russian government agency responsible for overseeing the civil aviation industry, Rosaviatsiya, has told TASS.
“It is up to the crews of arriving planes to decide whether to make a landing at the original destination or to request landing elsewhere,” the agency’s spokesman said. All airports have taken extra measures to clear the taxiways and runways of snow and to treat aircraft with anti-icing agents.
So far the captains of four airliners bound for Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, south-west of Moscow, made a decision to land at Sheremetyevo, several dozen kilometers to the north. So did the crews of two planes bound for the Domodedovo airport, south of Moscow. Another Domodedovo-bound flight opted for a temporary landing in Nizhny Novgorod 400 kilometers east of Moscow.
Inside the city, many streets are packed with ten-point jams, according to traffic situation Internet services.