Moscow Domodedovo Airport is probably the most modern in Russia, and is attracting a lot of airlines. As Russian airlines modernise, they are taking on a lot of Western aircraft types, and the older Russian types are being withdrawn.

However, at Domodedovo it’s still possible to see a good array or Russian types in storage.  Paul Mitchell has recently been on a trip to the airport, and compiled a list of what you can see stored there. You can find the list under Storage Lists at the top of the page, or click this link: http://www.airportspotting.com/storage-lists/moscow-domodedovo/

We’ll try to keep this list updated, so please comment below with your updates or send an e-mail!

There are plans to build the National Aviation Center at Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport (where the MAKS-11 air show has just been held).

This plan has been put forward by the United Aircraft Corporation, and has the blessing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The center will become a base for research, engineering and design companies, and and it is hoped it will be open in time for the next MAKS air show in 2013.

Moscow Domodedovo Airport is planning to build a viewing gallery on top of its new terminal, which is currently under construction.

Although it won’t be ready for a few years, this is great news; many spotters travel to Moscow for the variety of aircraft and airlines that can be seen. This gallery will make it much easier to get good views of the aircraft at Domodedovo, and to take pictures.

Sadly this comes at a time when very few Russian-made aircraft still operate out of Domodedovo (or Russia in general), as Airbus and Boeing types take over.

Photo (c) Dmitry A Mottl

Baltia Airlines is a new company which has been set up in the USA and aims to become the biggest US provider of trans-Atlantic flights between Eastern Europe and the USA.

They’re currently based at New York JFK Terminal 4, and their single aircraft is being prepared for its new life with this carrier. It is a Boeing 747-200B aircraft, formerly flown by Pakistan International Airlines (and still wearing their partial livery judging by the video).

Their plan is to serve cities in Belarus, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine with their 3-class service, plus cargo. Airports in their website’s schedule include: New York JFK, St. Petersburg, Riga, Vilnius, Moscow, Tallinn, Minsk and Kiev.

To introduce their company and aircraft, Baltia Airlines has put together this video:

watch?v=bnduu6W_Zqk

Aeroflot, the national carrier of Russia, has announced the routes it will fly its new homebuilt Sukhoi SSJ100 Superjet aircraft when entered into service. The are to start flying fro the airline from May 2011.

The routes are:

Moscow Sheremetyevo – Kazan
Moscow Sheremetyevo – Nizhniy Novgorod (2x daily)
Moscow Sheremetyevo – Omsk (1 of the 3 daily flights)
Moscow Sheremetyevo – St Petersburg

As you can see, these are all domestic routes and we’re unlikely to see the jet venture elsewhere into Europe just yet (if ever). If you’re lucky enough to get a trip on one of these aircraft, why not comment to let us know what it was like.

Undoubtedly the highlight of most peoples’ spotting trips to Moscow or Russia are the large numbers of stored and rare Russian aircraft to be found. However, getting regular and accurate logs of what can be seen is often quite difficult.

Thanks to Darren Kellett, our sister site Out of Production List has a full recent list of the aircraft stored at Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Click here for the link.

This press release has recently been sent out by Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, indicating how helpful they are to the “star” spotters out there.

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Between June 18 and 19, Moscow International Airport Domodedovo, the pioneer in aviation spotting, welcomed the group of aviation photography enthusiasts and provided access to most convenient spots at the landing area.

Around 30 world’s spotting stars got together in Domodedovo and spent there two days. Stuck to their cameras, they couldn’t take their eyes off the airfield in pursuit of capturing the moments from ordinary yet exciting airport life.

For two days the apron, runways, taxi ways turned into spotters’ workshop, where aircraft’s landing and take-offs were in the main focus.

Last year the spotters requested to hold such events more frequently, and this year the airport made the request materialized. The 17^th of June signified the official start of regular spotting events to be organized in the leading Moscow airport.

«I appreciate and thank the administration of Moscow International Airport Domodedovo for the unparalleled cooperation and providing unique opportunities to amateurs and professionals of aviation photography alike. Every airport is interesting in its own right, but to date Domodedovo is one of few places where you can see a great number of various airlines’ aircraft. That’s why to me the willingness to cooperate with aviation photographers which the airport has been demonstrating is extremely important. Thank you!”, – said Valentin Morozov, Russian AviaPhoto Team leader (RAFT).

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Organizing such events, Moscow International Airport Domodedovo provides continuity to the long-going tradition of the amateur aircraft photography.

Aviation spotting is a hobby uniting a great number of devotees around the world. The idea of spotting is to take pictures of a plane from the most advantageous angle and from a maximum proximity.

Sincerely yours,
Evgeniya Bekmambetova