Fly with Aeroflot planes

There are no other aircraft in Sheremetyevo and are not expected

There were only 7 planes on the Sheremetyevo airfield, 6 of them were Aeroflot, and the American Delta, which was lost among them. The situation is the same with tickets: you can fly, but only with Aeroflot and a limited number of “irregular” flights ....

There were only 7 planes on the Sheremetyevo airfield, 6 of them were Aeroflot, and the American Delta, which was lost among them. The situation is the same with tickets: you can fly, but only with Aeroflot and a limited number of “irregular” flights.

Aeroflot

The Samsonov couple from Tula planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their life together in Karlovy Vary. They are talking with a representative of Aeroflot.

- Hello, can we get compensation so that we can be accommodated in a hotel for one night?

“We don’t provide any hotels, we don’t provide any services anymore,” the manager replies nervously. — The CEO canceled all compensation. Aeroflot, with all the services provided, is one step away from bankruptcy!

- Where are the hotels nearby?

- The Sheremetyevo Hotel is overcrowded, and the cheapest room there costs 5,500 rubles. There are hotels in Lobnya, but they are even more expensive…

A comment

Irina Dannenberg , press secretary of Aeroflot:

— Force majeure, what else can I say. In the early days, we arranged and helped every passenger without interruption, especially attention was paid to the elderly and people with children. About 1,000 people were accommodated and provided with free meals per day. I was in Sheremetyevo for three days, and we did not refuse anyone.

Is it true that Aeroflot is on the verge of bankruptcy?

- And what do you think?! The company itself is now in a force majeure situation.

Russian Taxilines

For especially wealthy clients, Russian car companies operate in close proximity to the Sheremetyevo F terminal. A group of men cluster around one of the cars in the non-Moscow region, talking about their own, not offering anything, headlong at customers do not rush. Taxi prices are as follows: to the nearest border in euros per kilometer. From everyone. Later, one of the same group of taxi drivers offers a dollar per kilometer. For reference: the approximate distance to the nearest border - the Belarusian Brest - is 1000 kilometers.

Сhina Eastern Airlines

A Chinese woman runs up to us and asks for help in broken English. “We can’t fly out around 8 p.m.,” Hyong cries. “Airspace is closed to Europe, not Asia, so why are we being kept here for so long?”

It turns out that Sheremetyevo does not accept planes from China until April 26, they confirmed to us in the information window. “Tell them that they won’t fly before May, but they can buy tickets for a flight today or tomorrow from Aeroflot for 48,000 or 54,000 rubles. I can't offer any other options."

A comment

Vladimir Ilyin , manager of UTG (flies to China, Malta, Korea) :

“Some group of Chinese is supposed to fly out tonight!” I don't know exactly which one. This is force majeure, and insurance does not cover this case. The company is not obliged to pay any compensation, feed and provide hotels.

Germany

Novaya Gazeta columnist Yuri Baturin was unable to fly out of Germany. The flight was scheduled for last Sunday, but Baturin was forced to stay until Tuesday evening and buy a train ticket.

“I have been on a business trip in Munich since the late evening of April 11, and on April 18 I was supposed to fly to Moscow,” he said by phone. - I found out that "the sky is closed" at 7 o'clock in the morning on Friday, when a professor I knew called me. He himself could not fly out of Germany, as the flight was canceled, he was re-registered for 4 p.m. the next day and given a hotel.

Already on Friday, train tickets disappeared. It was also impossible to buy a ticket for the ferry, as many passengers tried to leave the country via the Baltic. The parking lots of rental cars at airports were empty, in a couple of days the cost of renting a car increased sharply. The cost of hotels in the city also jumped. The hotel next to the one I stayed in usually costs 60 euros per day, now the price is 200 euros per day.

We received information about the situation on the Internet and TV, and the situation began to look hopeless. On Friday and Saturday, we were looking for open airports in the nearest countries, because Aeroflot said that it would be able to take passengers to Moscow from Milan. Understanding that Aeroflot would not be able to withstand the entire flow of people rushing to Milan, my colleagues and I began to look for similar options - for example, in Ljubljana, Belgrade, but even there the airports were rapidly closing. On Saturday, April 17, we went to the Aeroflot office in Munich: they were very kind to us there, but they made it clear: there were no chances to fly on Sunday, they recommended looking for ground transport. The next day we went to the airport, where we were re-registered for Tuesday evening, but again advised to look for ground transportation. At the airport they were polite to us. The Germans easily extended their visas to those whose visas were running out, but they warned that this extension meant nothing to the Polish border guards. Therefore, many compatriots refused the train and bus and stayed to wait for their flight.

There is no panic at Munich Airport, everything is very cultural, there are even fewer people than usual, people are settled in hotels. In the airport hall, I saw a large tent and sunbeds, everything was organized and tidy. I want to note that our fellow citizens among the passengers who stood in line were calm, polite and cultured, even helpful to each other. People tell each other news, share experiences. In one of these queues, I learned that supposedly there were buses from Cologne to Moscow.

When I was returning to the city from the airport, I saw an airship in the sky: this is the only thing that flies now.

Today we bought a train ticket through Vienna, Brest, Smolensk, while the places are fixed only to Vienna, and there - how lucky, how the conductor will land. It will take 40 hours to get to Moscow if you don't have to be late."

Spain

Alexey Baran , bank employee :

“I was in Madrid on a business trip. He was supposed to fly to Moscow on the night of Friday to Saturday, from 16 to 17 April. In the middle of the day in Spain began to cancel flights. Until the very night there was no exact information about our flight. The Iberia airline offered to change the ticket for any other flight for free or return the money. It was possible to return the ticket and fly from Madrid to Kyiv with another company with a transfer in Luxembourg, but it cost 1800 euros. There was an option to go by train to Paris, but there were no tickets for the next 2 days. There was an option to go by bus for 300 euros, but I didn’t want to spend three days on the bus. It was possible to find out that the flight was canceled in a couple of hours, but I did not find this information on the website, and I had to go to the airport. I was lucky, and on the second attempt on Monday I flew away, despite the fact that the flight was delayed by 4 hours. All Iberia flights to Moscow had previously been cancelled. It's funny, but it seems that Aeroflot has been flying all this time, worrying little about the effect of clouds on aircraft. There are long queues at the airport, but people are quite calm. I didn't see any beds. Iberia provided good hotels and meals for transit passengers. I don't know about transitory ones. Iberia also organized trains and buses to the UK. When I walked around Madrid on Sunday, I met many foreigners, mostly English. They were happy with a little vacation, a free hotel and feeding, having fun in the center.

When flying back, the plane was flying at its maximum altitude - 12,200 m - above the ash cloud. At first, the clouds were ordinary - white feathery, characteristic of this height, then it began to become cloudy, and the ground became worse, and then a gray haze set in, through which nothing could be seen at all ... They sat down normally. When landing, the people were really happy, applauding loudly and shouting praises to the pilot.

Recorded
Julia Balashova

Netherlands

From last Thursday until the end of Monday, the airspace over Holland was blocked. Thousands of Dutch tourists still cannot return home from different parts of the world.

On Monday, Dutch transport minister Eurlings attended a conference with other EU transport ministers. He said that the resumption of air traffic is possible in areas where the ash does not pose a danger to aircraft jet engines. On Monday evening, after a meeting with his colleagues from European ministries, Eurlings decided to resume air traffic over Holland from 2000 local time.

Amsterdam airport

The airspace closure has resulted in a large number of travelers stranded at Schiphol, Amsterdam's international airport. According to airport spokesperson Katelina Vermeulen, the atmosphere in the international terminal is quite calm. “Of course, people want to go home, but everyone understands perfectly well that you just need to put up with such a situation and try to make the most of it. Therefore, a special mood reigns in the terminal. A group of Mexican dancers organized a concert, and the children united for joint games.

On Monday morning, the Boeing 737 of the Dutch airline KLM made a test flight. During the flight from Amsterdam to Paris, the crew did not have any difficulties. The liner itself was also not damaged, and no traces of volcanic ash were found in the engine.

Passenger call centers continue to receive dozens of calls from Dutch travelers. Eurocross, SOS International and ANVB* received over 8,000 calls in total over the past two days.

Iceland

The Roest couple from the Netherlands could not fly from Iceland.

“We have been stuck here since Saturday, we and a few other Dutch people, with whom we flew to the island together with Icelandair. The airline put us on the list of departures on Tuesday, but since the airspace is still closed, we ended up at the bottom of the list.

So far we have no way to get home by plane, so we are looking for other ways. Tomorrow we will go to the eastern part of Iceland, from there we can get to Denmark by water.

For my husband and I, it's not so bad. We have the opportunity to travel around the island at our pleasure and thereby extend our weekends. But others don't feel so at ease, especially those traveling with small children. Although, to be honest, the children do not look unhappy at all - for them this is an adventure.

We did not notice any actions from the government, and they are useless. We took care of ourselves. My cell phone did not stop working after the eruption, other passengers have access to the Internet.

We even went to see the volcano on Monday and were able to get within about 2 kilometers. Stones were seen flying from the vent and smoke was billowing. For us, it was not dangerous at all, as fragments and smoke flew in the other direction. And the opposite side of the volcano was cordoned off by Icelandic police.

Today we were at Keflavik International Airport. He was completely empty. Several dozen people board a flight to Oslo. We didn't see a single person sleeping in the lounge chairs, but the airport parking lot was full of cars. Apparently they belong to Icelanders who can't fly away. The only tourists in Iceland besides our Dutch group are the British and a few French."

* Companies representing medical and other emergency care in all countries of the world.