Join the Tour of Russia’s Most Popular Winter Holiday Destinations
Sochi has become Russia's favorite holiday tourist destination. It's followed by Crimea, Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, the Caucasian mineral waters, St. Petersburg and the homeland of Grandfather Frost — Veliky Ustyug.
Our correspondent Yulia Shustraya observed tourists leaving Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. She's here live.
- Greetings, Yulia. Are there a lot of travelers during these holidays?
- Good morning! There are a lot of them indeed. You can see it yourself — there are a lot more passengers in Domodedovo than usual. However, it's not the limit. December 30 is expected to become the peak day. According to airport staff, it's the day when everybody tries to either go on vacation or go visit their relatives. It'll be a lot less crowded here on December 31st. For comparison, there will be about 700 flights on December 30 and 600, one hundred less, on December 31st.
In total, during the holidays, the airport will serve 1,130,000 people, and it's only the ones that have already bought tickets. There will be others, the ones who haven't purchased them yet. Regarding the preparations, the staff claims that they are ready for such heavy traffic.
Alexander Vlasov, Domodedovo spokesman: "Throughout 2017 Russian passenger traffic has been growing, which means it will be higher during the holidays as well. There will be a 7% increase in traffic in Domodedovo. The peak days will be tomorrow, which is December 29th, and on December 30th. So, we'll be serving more than 750 flights and more than 100,000 passengers per day. It'll be less on December 31st. We'll be serving about 650 flights. It'll continue like this for the rest of the holidays".
Regarding the holidays, statistically speaking, when it comes to travel, people have certain preferences. The most popular Russian destination is Sochi, St. Petersburg, and Simferopol. The foreign ones are Munich, Dubai, and Minsk.
Regarding passenger traffic, everything's been done to make it as comfortable as possible for those arriving and those departing. Over the course of the year, the logistics of the airport have been changed, including the position of the bus stop and the airport rail link. On top of that, the acceptance rate has also been increased, meaning, these frames at the entrance are letting more people through. All entrances, including the third one, are working 60% more effectively.
There's also a small New Year's bonus — there's entertainment of sorts for those waiting to depart, especially if they're with children. New Year's fairy tales are being recited in the holding area. The event will last until December 31st.
- Thank you. Live from Domodedovo, that was our correspondent Yulia Shustraya.