Boasting the country’s most modern facilities, a true ‘multi-user’ attitude where all carriers are treated equal and customer service is paramount, along with parallel runways allowing simultaneous take-offs and landings are only some of the attributes that have enabled Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport to woo over carriers from its rival Sheremetyevo.
Domodedovo, privatised in 1996 and operated by the East Line Group of companies on a 75 year lease (although the runways remain under state control), was first designated Moscow’s long-range domestic airport, but has since become a popular international hub.
In fact, it has become so popular that some 13 international airlines have quit the city’s oldest airport Sheremetyevo, including the likes of BA, Swiss, Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian. Lufthansa was the latest to announce it will shift later this year.
The popularity has seen passenger numbers skyrocket from only 2.7 million in 2000 to an impressive 18.7 million in 2007. Likewise, cargo throughput has received a boost, rising 5.8 per cent in 2007 over a year earlier to 133,662 tonnes, which will likely hit 158,000 tonnes for 2008.
Currently these volumes are coming in the form of bellyhold capacity along with Russian cargo carriers, S7 Airlines, Transaero and Domodedovo airlines, along with foreign cargo carriers BA World Cargo, Alrosa and Emirates airlines. The airport is expecting an additional jump in cargo volumes when Lufthansa Cargo shifts over from Sheremetyevo later this year.
By 2020 the total cargo volume throughput is expected to hit 650,000 tonnes and “we assume that the Asian region will be the major source of cargo both in terms of Russian import and transfers to other regions,” said a Domodedovo spokesperson.
In order to accommodate this volume the current cargo terminal will undergo a major expansion along with the addition of a Cargo Village.
The construction of various cargo handling facilities, including an independent cargo terminal for major airlines and a Cargo Village, has been scheduled to be completed by 2013. The facilities will cover a total area of about 15,000 sq m, and the area of the Cargo Village alone is to span over 22.6 hectares.
Domodedovo is also expanding its passenger facilities with construction of a second terminal beginning this summer with completion by 2011. Additionally, plans include the expansion of runway space, increasing operating capacity from 60 to 90 flights per hour at the 24-hour airport.
But Sheremetyevo, home to Aeroflot, also plans to initiate the building of a third terminal, Sheremetyevo-3 in March 2009 which will house Aeroflot and its partner airlines in the Sky Team alliance.
But as sceptics point out, the start date for construction of Sheremetyevo-3 has been continually pushed back, creating a considerable level of uncertainty for the airlines operating there.
The lack of a dominant airline at Domodedovo, unlike Sheremetyevo, has been cited as an advantage in terms of customer service.
“Domodedovo endeavors at providing equal opportunities for all carriers and does not discriminate any region on the world against another,” the spokesperson said.
East Line’s strategic goal is to stabilise the airport’s future and establish it as a major international and multi-modal transportation hub.
“We want to become the foremost transfer airport in Europe. We want to use the advantage of our geographical location and to become the best transfer airport in Europe.”
Rated the best airport in Eastern Europe by ACI Europe in terms of passenger traffic growth in 2007, Domodedovo may be in danger of becoming a victim of its own success.
In March this year, a Moscow court backed an order forcing East Line to return portions of Domodedovo’s facilities to the government.
Describing the judgment as “uncommon, to say the least”, particularly since most of the Domodedovo passenger terminal facilities were rebuilt or upgraded, East Line claims there are “valid reasons to consider the court decision unjust”.
But in a decision last month the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District overruled East Line’s appeal.
It’s not known what steps East Line will now take, but previously it has said it would continue to appeal the moves ultimately abiding by the highest court’s findings.