Domodedovo Airport hosted a press tour dedicated to the opening of the new passenger terminal segment – T2. The terminal built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be opened for international passengers on July 11. Representatives of the airport told journalists about it during the press tour.
The area of the seven-storey terminal T2 is 238 thousand square meters, together with the existing terminal the airport terminal area will reach 500 thousand square meters. Passenger traffic with the opening of terminal T2 will exceed 60 million people per year or 3.1 thousand passengers per hour. Of the 22 gates, 16 are equipped with telescopic gangways. The exits themselves are equipped with automatic turnstiles, which will provide passengers the opportunity to independently pass the control boarding.
An observation deck has been built on the roof of Terminal T2. “A panoramic view of the new runway and the airfield at Domodedovo Airport can be seen from the observation deck, the first in the airports of the Moscow air hub. Such a picture will not leave anyone indifferent,” said the press service.
Another infrastructure long-delayed Domodedovo – second runway, which is under construction for almost 10 years, will be put into operation at the end of this year.
The new runway is to replace the existing Runway 2, which will be converted into a main taxiway. Construction of runway 2 began in 2014 and was also due to be completed in time for the 2018 World Cup. Along with the runway, other airfield facilities, including aircraft parking aprons, were to have been built and were scheduled to be commissioned along with the new T2 segment. However, runway 2, which cost 13 billion roubles, was not built by the target date and its construction was halted in 2019.
“The first phase of the runway reconstruction is expected to be completed and commissioned at the end of this year. We very much hope that in the winter schedule we will operate fully from two lanes,” airport director Andrei Pavlov said.
During a press tour and tour of the T2 terminal’s clear zone, airport representatives talked about innovations in the new automatic luggage sorting system, which includes a 1,000-seat storage system that ensures security and eliminates the loss of items.
“The main feature of our luggage handling system is that artificial intelligence controls all stages of the luggage journey from the time it is checked in to the time it is loaded onto the aircraft. A luggage belt with a length of more than 15km connects the operating and new segments of the terminal and allows transfer luggage to be handled automatically. Each piece of luggage is delivered on a separate pallet, which virtually eliminates the risk of loss or damage,” the press service said. The system allows handling luggage for up to 38 million passengers a year, the airport representative specified.
Andrey Pavlov shared with journalists the plans for 2023 and said that Domodedovo plans to serve about 22 million passengers this year.
“There are no preconditions for passenger traffic growth now, but we plan to serve about 22 million passengers in 2023, which will be approximately the same as last year,” the airport director said.
In 2022, Domodedovo’s passenger traffic was 21.2 million people, which was 15% less than a year earlier. Thus, traffic growth this year may be about 4%.
