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Dagestan airport fully back to normal operations after riot with over 50 flights scheduled

"There are 24 inbound and 28 outbound flights scheduled for today alone," regional head Sergey Melikov noted

MAKHACHKALA, October 31. /TASS/. The international airport in Makhachkala, Dagestan Region, in southern Russia, has fully returned to normal operations, regional head Sergey Melikov wrote on Telegram.

"Our airport has fully returned to normal operations. There are 24 inbound and 28 outbound flights scheduled for today alone. About 3,000 passengers will use the airport today," he said, adding that airline tickets were selling fast.

"Those who sought to intimidate the people by staging a silly and useless act have failed. Most importantly, no one was able to tarnish Dagestan’s image. The only thing they did was damage someone else’s property. However, we promptly addressed these consequences. Welcome to Dagestan," Melikov added.

On the evening of October 29, several hundred people gathered at the airport in the regional capital of Makhachkala to protest against the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The demonstration turned into a riot when protestors broke through the airport fence, penetrated the runway area and entered an airport building. An operational headquarters was set up, headed by Melikov, to address the situation. The regional head said that the actions of those gathered at the airport were a gross violation of the law and would be duly assessed by law enforcement agencies.