Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport opened its third runway on 19 September 2019. The first commercial service to land on Runway 3 –Aeroflot SU 019 from St Petersburg to Moscow –was greeted with the traditional aviation salute, a water arch.
Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport opened its third runway on 19 September 2019. The first commercial service to land on Runway 3 –Aeroflot SU 019 from St Petersburg to Moscow –was greeted with the traditional aviation salute, a water arch.
In his opening ceremony address, Minister of Transport Yevgeny Dietrich emphasised the runway’s significance. “The first two runways operate in dependent mode. Their removal from each other does not allow two aeroplanes to land and take off simultaneously. The third runway is independent, so aircraft can land and take off simultaneously.”
Dietrich explained that the airport’s movements will increase from 60-65 takeoff and landing operations per hour to 90. Runway 3 is equipped for ICAO category 3 operations.
3,200 metres long and 60 metres wide, Runway 3 allows the operation of all types of aircraft. It has modern production treatment facilities for domestic and surface wastewater, in accordance with state regulatory requirements and environmental standards. Sheremetyevo is the first airport in Russia with three runways.
The runway is clearly having an effect – Sheremetyevo recorded passenger numbers of 42,828,000 from January to October 2019, an increase of 9.2% over the same period last year. International passenger traffic grew by 9.2% and totalled 22,925,000 during that period. The growth on domestic flights was 14.2%, a total of 19,904,000 passengers.