Moscow Airports Halt Operations for Up to Nine Hours a Day

Ukrainian drone activity has forced Moscow’s four main airports to suspend operations for up to nine hours on specific days this month. Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Zhukovsky, and Vnukovo have faced near-daily interruptions in October, a sharp increase in disruption compared to previous months. The independent investigative outlet Agentstvo reported that these closures have become a routine part of the local aviation schedule.

The shutdowns are driven by a strict safety procedure used by Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya. Known as the carpet protocol, this rule immediately closes airspace over a region when an aircraft violates borders, weapons are used, or unidentified objects appear in the sky. Oleksandr Laneckij, chief executive of the consultancy Friendly Avia Support, explained that every drone is treated as a military threat under these rules. He noted that this approach mirrors disruptions seen in Saudi airspace by Yemen’s Houthis, though he argued Ukraine’s military capabilities far exceed theirs.

Military analyst Jan Matvejev stated that Ukraine can disrupt traffic around Moscow with relative ease. He pointed out that the protocol can be triggered by simple drones that lack warheads or long-range capabilities. Ukraine’s industrial base currently produces hundreds of combat-ready long-range drones daily, a volume that complicates interception efforts for Russian air defenses. Matvejev suggested that if Russian systems were fully effective, the drones would have been shot down by now. He added that Russia would have deployed more air-defense troops if such units were available.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined this strategy in early September, telling airlines, insurers, and travelers that Russian airspace would become completely unsafe. The following day, Ukraine sent a formal warning to the International Civil Aviation Organization. This campaign follows the long-term closure of Ukrainian airspace, which has remained shut since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Experts warn that the current situation poses risks to civilian flights. Laneckij indicated that Russia might lower the threshold for declaring the carpet protocol, increasing the danger of incidents similar to the Christmas day crash of 2024. An Azerbaijan Airlines flight was hit by a Russian air-defense missile fired to counter drones, killing 38 people. Matvejev noted that little has changed in Russian air-defense protocols since that event. He explained that while machine guns pose low risks to aircraft, missiles from mass production carry defects that could send a projectile toward a nearby airliner.

The physical threat extends beyond missiles, as drones require no explosives to cause harm. A collision with an airplane can be severe, particularly because drones flown from Ukraine to Moscow must be large, often weighing dozens of kilograms. Airports beyond Moscow have also felt the impact, with Ukrainian forces attacking Pskov airport in the summer of 2023. Earlier this month, drone debris fell on Sochi airport. In response, Russia has struck Ukrainian airports, including Kyiv’s airport and Boryspil, as noted by Zelenskyy in September.

Foreign airlines must now weigh three factors to determine if they will continue flying to Russia: military threat, demand, and insurance costs. Laneckij said that if insurers rate the risk as very high, premiums could rise sharply, driving ticket prices up. Competition in the Russian aviation market has already shrunk as many airlines have gone out of business. This reduction in carriers has increased demand for seats on the remaining foreign flights. Laneckij summarized the decision process by stating that whether airlines stay depends on the price they must pay for the danger faced.

Simon Shuster wrote in The Atlantic in October that Ukraine’s efforts are just getting started. He cited well-informed sources to support the view that the campaign is expanding. The consistent closure of Moscow’s airports signals a sustained pressure on Russian logistics and travel. The data from Agentstvo confirms that the nine-hour closures on peak days represent a substantial loss of operational time for the region's aviation hub.