Sheremetyevo International Airport has received the Russian Air Gateway 2021 National Award as the “Best Airport – Meeting Challenges 2020.”
The award ceremony was held on February 9 as part of the business program of the VIII National Exhibition of Civil Aviation Infrastructure NAIS-2021 and was timed to coincide with the celebration of the Day of the Civil Aviation Worker of Russia.
Sheremetyevo was recognized for achievements in two categories: “speedy implementation of safety requirements for passengers and personnel” and “continuation of the implementation of infrastructure and renovation projects.”
Mikhail Vasilenko, Director General of JSC SIA, accepted the award on behalf of Sheremetyevo Airport. “We are grateful to the expert council of the Russian Air Gates Award for such a high assessment of our work under the difficult conditions of the pandemic,” he said. “Today, our key priorities are to maintain a safe environment for the health of our passengers and employees, and to continue to progressively develop infrastructure to potentially increase passenger traffic and provide high-quality services. The implementation of these goals will allow Sheremetyevo to quickly and fully resume its operations after lifting a number of restrictions on international flights.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheremetyevo Airport assumed the main burden associated with servicing flights to Russia from epidemiologically unfavorable countries, since at that time it was the only Russian airport accepting international flights. It promptly adopted a set of unprecedented measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation.
Terminal F, with its triple control and screening system for arriving passengers, was designated to service flights from other countries. All public places and industrial areas of the terminals, parking lots and adjacent areas were regularly treated with disinfectants, and employees were provided with personal protective equipment and were briefed daily on the rules and requirements of working in a restricted mode. The effectiveness of the anti-epidemic measures implemented at the airport was confirmed during inspections and reviews conducted with the leadership of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Federal Air Transport Agency, Rospotrebnadzor and the Moscow Region.
In addition, Sheremetyevo was the first airport in the world to adopt a system for rapid testing for coronavirus. Currently, SVO is hosting vaccinations against COVID-19 that are available to the public.
In 2020, despite the restrictions imposed due to the spread of the coronavirus infection, Sheremetyevo Airport implemented key infrastructure projects in accordance with its established Long-term Development Program:
On January 17, SVO opened a new international Terminal C, which was built and equipped according to the highest international standards and designed for 20 million passengers per year;
On April 13, a modern hangar complex was opened for the maintenance of aircraft of the Aeroflot Group;
On December 24, after a large-scale reconstruction, Sheremetyevo commissioned Runway-1, a unique project for the international aviation industry in terms of its technological complexity and record-breaking construction time.
With plans in place for the further development of infrastructure and bringing passenger and cargo terminals to their full design capacity, Sheremetyevo Airport plans to become one of the world’s largest aviation hubs and strengthen its status as the main transit air hub between Europe and Asia.
