If you are planning to fly to or from Moscow there are some
things you should know about its airports. Moscow has a three major
airports: Domodedovo, Sheremet'evo and Vnukovo. They are named
after the towns where they are located.
Domodedovo
Domodedovo is the largest and the most modern airport in Moscow.
In terms of service and convenience it is similar to John F.
Kennedy airport in New York. It features large halls, great places
to eat, and convenient check-in counters. By far, this is the best
airport in Moscow. It is located to the south of Moscow; it takes
about one hour to reach it by car from the city center. You can
also take a shuttle train from Paveletsky train station to
Domodedovo which goes every hour or so. It takes about 2 hours to
reach the airport by train. Domodedovo services domestic and
international flights, mainly European-bound. If you are flying
from North America you are probably not going to land in
Domodedovo; instead, you will encounter Sheremet'evo.
Sheremet'evo I and
II
Sheremet'evo is located to the north of Moscow. It takes about
30 minutes to reach the outskirts of Moscow from Sheremet'evo and
about 1 hour to reach the city center (without traffic jams).
Sheremet'evo has two terminals located about 20 minutes away
from each other. There are inconvenient shuttle buses
going from one terminal to another.
The first terminal is the home-base of domestic Aeroflot
flights. It has a Soviet-style infrastructure, terrible counters,
not enough seats and just one or two places to eat.
The second terminal - Sheremet'evo II - was designed as the
main international airport of the Soviet Union and today it
services most of the international flights to Russia, including
those from the North America. This airport is a Soviet-era
"dinosaur" that for some strange reason has not yet been renovated.
Its personal matches its infrastructure very well.
I recall two unpleasant incidents in Sheremet'evo II. The first
happened to me when I was 14. I was flying from Moscow to the US as
an exchange student. A customs officer told me that I could not
leave a country because I was flying alone and did not have a
written permission from my parents. The officer asked me how much
money I had with me and when I responded that I had 400 dollars, he
told me that he would let me go if I gave him half of it, which I
ultimately had to do to get on my flight. You should not worry
though, customs officials are more careful when it comes to foreign
travelers. If you have not violated any rules, customs offciials
won't be able to extort any money from you.
Second
time I encountered Sheremet'evo-style customer service was this
past summer. I was on a business trip to Moscow. When checking in I
had been told that I was not on "the list of passengers."
Apparently, someone from my company who was in charge of making
reservations mixed up my travel dates. Luckily I had another return
ticket that I have unused from my previous trip (when I returned to
New York via Beijing). I went to Aeroflot ticket counter to ask if
I could use my second ticket which had an "open date." The ticket
counter had 5 windows, 3 of them closed. Because the
two which were opened had huge lines, I knocked on one of the
closed windows and tried to explain that it was an emergency (it
was 40 minutes before the departure). Aeroflot official refused to
talk to me and told me to wait in one of the lines. Obviously, has
I waited, I would have missed my flight. I am very thankful to an
Italian couple who let me jump in front of them. When you go to
Russia, make sure that whoever is arranging your tickets, does not
mess up the dates. It is smart to book airfares with a serious
travel agency like Travel All Russia to avoid any surprises.
Vnukovo
Third Moscow airport is called Vnukovo. There is really
not much to say about it except that it has a service and looks of
Sheremet'evo, but operates only domestic flights. You probably
won't encounter it, unless you are flying on a domestic flight in
Russia.
Regardless of which airports you are using, there are
couple things you should consider. First is Moscow traffic jams.
Always give yourself an extra hour just in case. Secondly, never
get a cab at Moscow airport as you will pay three to five times the
market price. Ask your travel agent to arrange all airport
transfers for you (Travel All Russia can easily arrange all
this).
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