Pilot In The Fog

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   Russian Spring finally came to Moscow at the end of last week - with warmer weather followed by rain, wind and fog. But the arrival of Spring affected flights both to and from the Russian capital. Outgoing flights from city airports were delayed, and flights bound for Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports were diverted to the other city airports - or even further afield.
   Konstantin Kononokhin is Head of The Vnukovo Airport Press Service; Kononokhin confirmed to BANKO that Vnukovo had adopted its' severe weather contingency plans over the weekend. These plans include diverting incoming aircraft several hundred kilometres to the East of Moscow - to Nizhniy Novgorod Airport. However, Kononokhin also emphasised that at 10.30 a.m. conditions had improved sufficiently to allow the airport to revert to its' standard operating procedures.
   Irina Kolesnikova from the Sheremetyevo Airport Press Service explained that: ‘This morning we adopted the procedures of our 3A ICAO Category: that is - we switched on the runway lights, diverted some incoming flights to Pulkovo and some to Nizhniy Novgorod. At the moment, however the visibility is back up to 2 kilometres - and that meets the standard required for normal operation'.
   However, the weather did not affect the city's newest hub, Domodedovo airport. Indeed the airport's PR section, EAST LINE Press Service - reported to BANKO that the airport accepted twelve aircraft diverted from Sheremetyevo.