Domodedovo complains like Sheremetyevo

Can't go to another airport

Yesterday, the director of this airport complex, Vyacheslav Nekrasov, called the situation at the entrances to Domodedovo a “transport collapse.” He used a strong expression in an open letter to the Minister of Transport of Russia Igor Levitin and the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Igor Artemyev, posted on the airport’s website. In June, Mikhail Vasilenko, general director of Sheremetyevo International Airport (SIA), successfully used a similar means of public communication to overcome transport difficulties.

True, this method is unlikely to quickly help Domodedovo. As follows from Mr. Nekrasov’s letter, the problem of getting to the airport by car is chronic. In an open letter, Mr. Nekrasov draws attention to the fact that “access to the airport is now provided by a highway built in the early 60s of the last century.” Formally, it belongs to a class designed to handle 40 thousand passenger cars per day (or a corresponding smaller number of larger vehicles). However, taking into account limiting factors (traffic lights, intersections with other roads), the director of Domodedovo believes that the estimated traffic intensity on the highway section adjacent to the airport cannot be more than 14 thousand cars per day. In reality, he writes, up to 96.8 thousand cars pass there every day.

“A large share of the responsibility (for traffic jams at Domodedovo. - Ed. ) falls on the bodies and organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Transport of Russia,” Mr. Nekrasov reports to the head of the federal department, especially singling out Rosavtodor among the culprits. According to the airport director, the agency is unjustifiably delaying the preparation of competition documentation for the development of a project to modernize the problematic highway.

A few months ago, the head of another major airport in the capital successfully used the Internet to solve a similar problem. At the end of June, SIA General Director Mikhail Vasilenko published an open letter to Yuri Luzhkov on his blog under the heading “Moscow against Sheremetyevo passengers!”

It was reported there that on June 26, the city authorities began repairing the overpass over the Oktyabrskaya Railway at the 24th kilometer of the Leningradskoe Highway. In connection with this, four of the six traffic lanes were closed, a chronic traffic jam arose at the overpass, and thousands of passengers and airport workers were unable to get to Sheremetyevo on time. Mr. Vasilenko accused the mayor's office of almost deliberate sabotage: in his opinion, the Moscow authorities deliberately blocked the road to Sheremetyevo in order to create a competitive advantage for the Vnukovo airport they control. Mr. Vasilenko’s accusatory speech on the Internet attracted the attention of the country’s top officials and had a practical effect. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin personally instructed Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov to look into the problem . The closed lanes on the overpass were promptly opened. The FAS and even the prosecutor's office got involved in checking the situation and came to conclusions that were unpleasant for the city authorities. The Prosecutor General's Office found that “contrary to the requirements of the legislation on highways, when temporarily restricting traffic, government authorities of the city of Moscow violated the procedure for making such decisions” (see Vremya Novostei, August 11) . And the Sheremetyevo administration even managed to use the opportune moment to solve another of its long-standing problems. Thanks to the personal order of Prime Minister Putin, it was possible to close the landfill near the airfield. Before that, Sheremetyevo unsuccessfully sued the organizers of the landfill for several years.

The nature of Domodedovo’s transport problems is such that the airport cannot count on a quick solution even with the use of advanced Internet communication technologies. Mr. Nekrasov notes in a letter to Mr. Levitin: “We have been persistently raising the issue of the need to solve the problem of automobile access to Domodedovo Airport over the past ten years.” He also reports that in the best case, design work will take 2010-2011, and “even having started design in 2010, Rosavtodor will only be able to put into operation a modern expressway with 6-8 lanes by 2015.” .

The press service of the Ministry of Transport told Vremya Novostey that the department had received Mr. Nekrasov’s letter, and a response to it “will be given within the period established by law” (i.e., within 30 days).

Mikhail KUKUSHKIN