Sheremetyevo International Airport

• 1. Soviet Origins And Conversion

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  On the 1st of September 1953, the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union issued a decree to build the Central Airdrome of the Air Force near Chashnikovo. This military airfield took its name from Sheremetyevsky village and the nearby railway station. The facility became operational on the 7th of November 1957 to mark the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. In August 1959, the government ordered the termination of all military use at the site. The Principal Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet received the airbase for conversion into a civilian airport. Sheremetyevo officially began civilian operations on the 11th of August 1959 when a Tupolev Tu-104B landed from Leningrad.

  The first international flight departed on the 1st of June 1960 bound for Berlin Schönefeld Airport using an Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft. An official two-story terminal opened the following day with a commissioning ceremony. By the 3rd of September 1964, the Sheremetyevo-1 terminal stood ready for service. That same year, eighteen foreign airlines operated regular flights to the location. Up to ten different types of aircraft were involved in these early international routes. By the end of 1964, the airport handled 822,000 passengers and 23,000 tons of mail and cargo. International traffic accounted for 245,000 passengers and 12,000 tons of cargo during that period. Aeroflot established air traffic agreements with 47 countries by late 1965, routing most Soviet international flights through this hub.

• 2. Olympic Era Expansion

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  Construction of a second runway began in the early 1970s at Sheremetyevo. The first airliner to land on this new strip was an Ilyushin Il-62. In preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympics, the Ministry of Civil Aviation approved plans for a second terminal in early 1976. Work on what became Sheremetyevo-2 started on the 17th of November 1977. This facility opened on the 1st of January 1980 with a capacity to serve six million passengers annually or 2,100 passengers per hour.

  The official opening ceremony took place much later on the 6th of May 1980. During the Olympic Games, the airport served more than 460,000 international passengers. Terminal F, as it is now known, was designed by architects Heinz Wilke and constructed by Rüterbau from Hanover. All equipment except bricks from Poland arrived via lorry from Germany. A major reconstruction of the terminal interior completed by late 2009 modernized departures lounges and duty-free zones. The design features fifteen jetways and twenty-one remote aircraft stands.

• 3. Modernization And Competition

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  In the early 2000s, Sheremetyevo faced growing competition from Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Domestic carriers like Sibir, KrasAir, Transaero, Pulkovo Airlines, and UTAir moved their services to Domodedovo. International airlines including Air Malta, Adria Airlines, Swiss, British Airways, and Emirates also shifted operations. Aeroflot pushed for a third terminal called Sheremetyevo-3 to increase passenger capacity and meet SkyTeam alliance requirements. On the 12th of March 2007, the airport opened Terminal C to maximize international passenger capacity.

  A renovation of the second runway occurred on the 5th of March 2008 to receive all aircraft types including Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. An Aeroexpress line connecting Sheremetyevo to Savyolovsky Railway Station began operation on the 10th of June 2008. This reduced travel time to central Moscow to thirty minutes. In January 2009, final plans increased annual passenger capacity to sixty-four million with a new airfield and third runway. Construction of Terminal D completed on the 15th of November 2009 with twelve million passengers per year capacity. The facility was renamed Terminal F on the 25th of December 2009 using Latin lettering.

• 4. Terminal Architecture And Layout

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  The current Northern Terminal Complex includes Terminal B which originally opened as Sheremetyevo-1 on the 3rd of September 1964. That first iteration featured a flying-saucer-like design nicknamed shot glass by locals. It measured long and wide with volume exceeding eight hundred thousand cubic meters. The terminal could hold up to eight hundred people per hour before its demolition in August 2015. The reconstructed Terminal B commenced operations on the 3rd of May 2018 with an Aeroflot flight to Saratov.

  This new facility serves domestic flights only with twenty million passengers annual capacity. All airlines operating domestic flights from Sheremetyevo shifted to this location except for far eastern destinations like Vladivostok. An interterminal underground passage connects the northern terminals to the southern complexes and Aeroexpress railway station. The Southern Terminal Complex houses Terminals D, E, and F connected by pedestrian walkways with travelators. Terminal D opened in November 2009 as a hub for Aeroflot and SkyTeam partners with twelve million passenger capacity. Terminal E opened in 2010 connecting D and F while adding eight jetway equipped gates.

• 5. Operational Statistics And Transport

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  In 2019, Sheremetyevo handled approximately forty-nine point nine million passengers making it Russia's busiest airport. The facility serves as the main hub for Russian flag carrier Aeroflot along with subsidiaries Rossiya Airlines and Pobeda. Nordwind Airlines and Smartavia also operate primary bases here. Annual passenger statistics show growth from nineteen million in 2010 to nearly fifty million before pandemic dips. By 2024, traffic reached forty-three point seven million passengers.

  Ground transport includes an Aeroexpress train line running nonstop to Belorussky station in downtown Moscow. A one-way journey takes thirty-five minutes on trains offering adjustable seats and luggage compartments. Bus lines 817 and 851 connect to Moscow Metro stations Planernaya and Rechnoy Vokzal respectively. Night bus N1 operates between three am and five forty am for thirty to ninety minute journeys. A toll road opened on the 23rd of December 2014 connects MKAD near Dmitrovskoe Highway allowing ten-minute travel times avoiding highway congestion.

• 6. Accidents And Security Incidents

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  On the 26th of September 1960, Austrian Airlines Flight 901 crashed short of the runway at Sheremetyevo Airport. Thirty-one people died out of thirty-seven aboard that aircraft. Japan Air Lines Flight 446 crashed during initial climb on the 28th of November 1972 en route to Haneda Airport. Sixty-one of seventy-six occupants perished including nine crew members and fifty-two passengers. Aeroflot Flight 2415 crashed shortly after takeoff on the 28th of November 1976 due to artificial horizon failure killing all sixty-seven passengers and six crew.

  Aeroflot Flight 411 crashed on takeoff on the 6th of July 1982 with all ninety people on board dying. Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashed on the 22nd of July 2002 resulting in fourteen deaths among sixteen occupants. On the 5th of May 2019, Aeroflot Flight 1492 crash-landed and caught fire after returning to the airport following an onboard malfunction. Forty-one of seventy-eight passengers and crew died while eleven others sustained injuries. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022, Ukrainian drone attacks forced repeated operational suspensions.