Drone Alerts Disrupt Air Traffic at Moscow Airports on October 23

Drone Alarm in Moscow Flights

Flight restrictions implemented on October 23 at four airports in Moscow disrupted operations. There are reports of planes returning from Turkey; however, the official record covering 17 flights pertains to the redirection of aircraft to Nizhny Novgorod within Russia on October 16. Bulgarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, and Russian sources indicate that the incidents on different days should be evaluated separately.

Reports of drone attacks targeting Moscow, the capital of Russia, disrupted civil air traffic again on October 23. Temporary restrictions were applied during the day at Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports, while some flights heading to Moscow were redirected to alternative airports. Statements from Russian aviation authorities and news from the Bulgarian, Romanian, and Ukrainian press revealed that the closures and reopenings changed throughout the day.

No records confirming the statement '17 flights were returned to Russia' were found in the sources examined, which corroborate the same date and scope. In contrast, there is a clear airport announcement corresponding to the number 17: Nizhny Novgorod's Chkalov Airport reported on the morning of October 16 that it accepted 17 flights heading to Moscow as an alternative airport. This record does not state that the aircraft were turned back from Russia or that all of them departed from Turkey.

Official Record for 17 Flights: Alternative Landing on October 16

According to the announcement from Chkalov Airport at 09:19 on October 16, 17 flights were redirected to Nizhny Novgorod due to restrictions on aircraft acceptance and departures at Moscow airports the previous night. The airport announced that passengers and airline and ground services teams were taking care of the situation; food and beverages were provided. The statement also noted that after the restrictions were lifted, some aircraft continued to Moscow, while some passengers would be sent to Moscow via bus transfers at the airlines' discretion.

A follow-up report published the same day by NIA Nizhny Novgorod stated that among the redirected flights was Rossiya's Kaliningrad–Moscow SU6312 flight. This example shows that the incident was not limited to aircraft arriving from outside Russia. The announcement regarding the 17 flights did not include a detailed list of all flight numbers, departure points, and airlines.

Return Reports to Turkey Relate to Different Dates

Reports of returns connected to Turkey appeared in separate news articles. According to a report by Kommersant, citing TASS at 23:56 on October 13, 10 aircraft en route from Turkey to Moscow decided to return due to flight restrictions at Vnukovo. The report mentioned flights departing from Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir, and Dalaman, indicating that the aircraft were expected to make temporary landings in Istanbul. The report does not provide a flight log confirming the final landings of all flights individually.

In another report published in the early hours of October 17, it was stated that five Turkish Airlines flights heading from Antalya to Moscow Vnukovo were returning to Turkey. According to information from Vzglyad, based on RIA Novosti and airline representatives, at least one of the aircraft was expected to land in Istanbul. This report regarding five flights is from a different date than the earlier report of 10 flights on October 13; both cannot be presented as the same incident as the 17 alternative landings announced on October 16.

Moscow Traffic Disrupted Again on October 23

On October 23, when new disruptions occurred, Russian media reported that passengers at Sheremetyevo were directed to shelters and that Moscow flights were shifted to other airports. A report from Fontanka, based on Pulkovo Airport, reflected the situation as of 18:00, stating that the airport in St. Petersburg accepted 29 aircraft heading to Moscow. The same report also noted that departures from Pulkovo to Moscow had resumed.

The number 29 here refers to the aircraft accepted by Pulkovo on October 23. A single incident's toll cannot be drawn by aggregating this with the 17 flights announced for Nizhny Novgorod on October 16. Similarly, the numbers for delays, cancellations, and redirections published at different times throughout the day measure different situations; the same flight may have been counted in multiple reports.

Night Announcements: Flights Subject to Approval at Two Airports

Rosaviatsiya announced that the restrictions at Sheremetyevo were lifted at 17:59 on October 23. An announcement regarding the lifting of restrictions that were later reimposed for Zhukovsky was published at 22:40. The critical announcement for Vnukovo and Domodedovo came at 23:05: The agency stated that aircraft acceptance and departures would be conducted in coordination and approval with the relevant authorities due to airspace restrictions.

As of 01:37 on October 24, no new announcement lifting the last Moscow restrictions was observed in the review of official announcements published. Therefore, stating that all four airports remained continuously closed or that all flights had completely returned to normal goes beyond these records. The situation announced overnight varied by airport; the operational information in this report reflects the specified announcement cutoff.

What Did Bulgarian, Romanian, and Ukrainian Sources Report?

The Bulgarian economic publication Investor.bg reported in the evening of October 23 that disruptions in Moscow's airspace lasted for hours, with numerous aircraft being redirected to other airports, and flights arriving from Antalya and Dubai to Moscow were also affected. This news indicates that the disruptions connected to Turkey were still on the agenda on October 23; however, it does not provide a list confirming that 17 aircraft returned to Turkey.

In Romania, Antena 3 CNN reported on the temporary closures at four Moscow airports and the redirection of passengers to shelters at Sheremetyevo. Mediafax also reported that flights were delayed and passengers were evacuated. The number 17 in Antena 3's report refers to the drones mentioned by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and cannot be used as the number of passenger aircraft.

From Ukrainian sources, Ukrinform reported on the disruptions at the four airports while including Sobyanin's statement about 17 drones. In an earlier report from the public broadcaster Suspilne, there was a report of 14 drones. These two figures are statements from Russian authorities reported at different times; they do not constitute an independently verified toll of the attacks. In both publications' aviation news, the main development was the temporary restrictions imposed on Moscow air traffic.

Redirection and Return Are Not the Same Flight Movement

The records examined indicate that security restrictions in Moscow led to both alternative landings within Russia and return decisions for some flights connected to Turkey. Landing at another Russian airport and returning to Turkey are different flight movements. Therefore, evaluating the numbers in the news with the date of the incident, arrival airport, and announcement time is important.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye