Moscow's fourth international airport Zhukovsky officially opened Monday, but public transport problems and the economic recession put a damper on celebrations. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev opened the Zhukovsky airport about 40 kilometres south-east of Moscow city centre, Russian television reported. The new airport has a capacity of 2 million passengers per year, Rostec, the Russian state conglomerate that controls the airport's operating company Ramport Aero, said in a statement. The airport will run around 20 flights per week by two passenger airlines from ex-Soviet Central Asia - Air Kyrgyzstan and SCAT Airlines from Kazakhstan.
It will also house two Russian freight carriers: Sky Gates Airlines and an Aviastar-TU. The airport, built with an initial investment of 10 billion rubles ($136,000), was originally planned to reduce the build-up of passengers at the three existing airports: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, following years of strong growth in passenger traffic. Russia has since plunged into recession due to falling oil prices and Western sanctions over its role in the conflict in Ukraine, affecting people's purchasing power and leading to air travel falling last year. The country's second largest airline Transaero has closed down and passengers are taking few charter flights to package holiday destinations.
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