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Scuffles break out in Moscow airports amid delays

Grounded flights send tensions soaring in Moscow
Moscow (AFP) Dec 28, 2010 - No one at chaotic Domodedovo airport seemed more important than a pimply young man handing out airplane food to the irate passengers who have been waiting for their holiday flights since the weekend. "I need my own bodyguard," the teen said with a laugh. He agreed to identify himself only as Igor "for security reasons". "There have been a few people making threats when these things run out," he said pointing at the stacks of aluminum foil covered plates. "Everyone is going a bit mad." The mayhem has been reigning at Moscow's busiest airport since Saturday when unseasonably warm weather covered both planes and runways with sheets of ice. A local power line snapped, cutting power which was only restored Monday. Some random flights were indeed seen departing Tuesday and the taxi drivers were no longer charging 300 dollars for a ride into town.

But angry attendants were rushing around the packed halls unplugging the computers of business people trying to establish contact with their offices in Europe and the United States. "Telephones only," one grandmotherly attendant hissed at a man who had piles of papers strewn around the puddle-filled floor. "That computer will blow the fuse and the lights in all the toilets will go." Tempers tended to boil over at the slightest provocation as thousands of passengers remained stranded in an airport that was once the marvel of Moscow but now resembled a war zone. People were seen fighting over treasured luggage carts that entire families turned into beds. Others haggled over a cherished seat at a fast-food chain that charged gourmet prices for stale salami sandwiches and instant coffee in a plastic cup.

"There is absolutely no information and they just keep sending you from one place to another," growled a young man named Dmitry Menyayev. He and his girlfriend were supposed to have been home for the holidays in Novosibirsk two days ago. Now they were preparing to "compensate" for the lost time once they actually get there -- possibly on Wednesday. "There are problems with the water and all the cafes are full. We are eating what is left of the airplane food -- and there is not even much of that." Getting information from anyone indeed seemed like a hopeless mission. A British Airways ticket agent named Oksana smiled meekly and murmured: "We are trying to help an many people as we can." Another agent for Transaero stood on her chair and chanted the same two sentences over and over: "We have food vouchers. No flight information at all." Ainar Kygorov admitted that he probably had been overly optimistic bringing his entire family out to the airport knowing that all flights to his native Bishkek had been either grounded or were experiencing days-long delays. "The tickets are already paid for and we have people waiting for us," he said. "I do not really know what else we are supposed to do."
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Dec 28, 2010
Scuffles broke out Tuesday at Moscow's two main airports as a third day of major delays prompted Russia to open a probe into how a spell of freezing rain could bring air traffic to a virtual standstill.

Chaos reigned throughout Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports as thousands of travellers tried to muscle their way onto the few flights that were finally making their way out of town.

RIA Novosti news agency said that Aeroflot attendants were attacked at Sheremetyevo and AFP reporters saw hundreds trying to shove their way past Domodedovo's passport control as exasperated security officials called the police for help.

"There is absolutely no information and they just keep sending you from one place to another," growled a young man named Dmitry Menyayev.

"People are on the verge of a nervous breakdown," another passenger was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The problems are a particular embarrassment for Aeroflot. Russia's flagship carrier now operates out of a state-of-the-art wing of Sheremetyevo and has undertaken enormous efforts to break out of its dowdy Soviet mold.

But state television led its evening news broadcasts with Internet footage of exasperated passengers -- many of them scheduled for one of Aeroflot's 153 cancelled flights -- banging plastic security containers against Sheremetyevo's floor.

The airport blamed the cancellation on a German subcontractor that never provided Sheremetyevo with its regular shipment of de-icing fluid.

Domodedovo -- which became the pride of Russia's air travel after undergoing a futuristic overhaul in 2003 -- also deflected the blame on a power outage that affected not only the airport but also other parts of southeastern Moscow.

Officials at both airports insisted that travel was slowly returning to normal but even the Kremlin seemed startled by the extent of the transportation breakdown.

President Dmitry Medvedev instructed his chief prosecutor to look into the matter and the transportation ministry sent inquiry letters to the managers of both airports as the delays threatened to escalate into a political scandal.

Transportation officials said they were looking into whether proper instructions had been followed by both the airports and the airlines -- including international ones.

But the probes seemed of little concern to the thousands whose winter vacation plans had either been totally ruined or certainly off to a nightmarish start.

An employee for one of the airline labour unions in Sheremetyevo said some pilots had reached the airport for a 10:00 am flight only to have it repeatedly delayed until 7:00 pm.

It was at that point that crew decided to call it a day.

"One crew spent seven hours inside the plane and a pilot's workday is only 12 hours after passing a medical check," the union official said.

But it was the lack of information that appeared to irritate passengers most.

"OMON (riot police) are watching over our office, passengers are forcing their way in, and there is still no information," Sheremetyevo employee Anastasiya Dunayeva wrote on her Twitter account.

A British Airways ticket agent at Domodedovo named Oksana smiled meekly and murmured: "We are trying to help as many people as we can."

Another agent for Transaero stood on her chair and chanted the same two sentences over and over: "We have food vouchers. No flight information at all."

Ainar Kygorov admitted that he probably had been overly optimistic bringing his entire family out to the airport knowing that all flights to his native Bishkek had been either grounded or were experiencing days-long delays.

"The tickets are already paid for and we have people waiting for us," he said. "I do not really know what else we are supposed to do."



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