Moscow Sheremetyevo airport has added a third runway which will almost double its capacity.
After 10 years of construction, and several delays, the 3,200m (10,500ft) runway is to become operational on 19 September, says the airport’s operator.
Deputy director of operations Andrei Nikulin says the new runway enables the airport to relieve workloads on the two parallel runways, which cannot be used simultaneously because they are located too close together, and to optimise aircraft movements.
“Overall, the third runway will take the hourly number [of movements] up to 90 from 55,” he says. “This is consistent with our objective to increase annual throughput capacity to over 80 million passengers by 2026.”
In 2018, more than 45.8 million passengers travelled through Sheremetyevo, making the airport Russia’s busiest for the fifth year running. Nikulin believes that the introduction of a third runway will help establish the gateway as an international transit hub.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
