Vnukovo passengers report overnight waits without hotel rooms

Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines passengers reported accommodation problems after overnight restrictions at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on October 9. The airport said it distributed water and resting mats.

A Pegasus Airlines passenger waiting to fly to Antalya told the Ostorozhno, Moskva channel that her departure was postponed at least six times. She said passengers were offered 2,400 rubles each for food but encountered difficulties obtaining hotel rooms.

She described people sleeping on the floor on their jackets. Conditions improved by morning, although she said queues and waiting conditions remained difficult until 7 a.m. She also reported that cafes and lounges stopped selling alcohol around 2 a.m., citing safety.

A Turkish Airlines passenger waiting for an Istanbul flight from 1 a.m. described conflicting information on departure boards. She said the main displays first showed the flight as cancelled and then removed it, while screens at the gate continued postponing it. She reported that passengers were offered no compensation.

Vnukovo's press service told the same channel that it provided water and mats, prioritising families with children. It said buses brought back passengers who had stayed in hotels overnight. The airport stated that airlines arrange meals and accommodation.

The individual complaints about unavailable hotel rooms therefore coexist with the airport's account of some passengers being accommodated. Overnight flight restrictions lasted more than six hours and caused widespread delays. The 1:55 p.m. Pegasus departure time mentioned in an earlier report does not establish when the flight actually departed.