Over 400 Flights Delayed Across Moscow Airports After Overnight Drone Attack

More than 400 flights were delayed across Moscow’s four major airports early Sunday after an overnight drone attack prompted temporary restrictions on arrivals and departures, creating a cascade of disruptions that lingered into the morning.

What happened at Moscow’s four airports

Published coverage indicates Russia’s federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, imposed temporary flight restrictions overnight at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky, then lifted the measures on Sunday morning, September 20, 2026. Even after operations resumed, airport departure and arrival boards continued to show widespread knock-on delays and scattered cancellations.

Business daily RBC, compiling data from airport flight boards, reported more than 400 delayed flights since midnight across the four-airport system. The heaviest disruption appeared concentrated at Sheremetyevo, Moscow’s largest hub, where reported board totals included 121 delayed arrivals and 126 delayed departures, alongside roughly 35 cancellations.

RBC’s tallies also pointed to significant impacts at Vnukovo, where boards listed 69 delayed arrivals and 60 delayed departures, with 11 cancellations. At Domodedovo, the same reporting showed 27 delayed arrivals and one cancellation, while Zhukovsky, the smallest of the four, showed a handful of delayed movements and two cancellations.

Why a short closure can create a long travel day

Even brief restrictions can set off a domino effect across a hub system like Moscow’s. Aircraft that cannot land on time often arrive late for their next sector, crews can time out under duty rules, and gates and runway slots can become misaligned with revised schedules once traffic restarts.

Travelers often experience the disruption in stages: initial departure holds or diversions while restrictions are active, then extended waiting as airlines rebuild rotation plans, reassign aircraft, and manage passenger connections. Publicly available flight boards can show the immediate symptoms, but they do not always reveal how long the original pause lasted or how quickly schedules normalize across an entire day.

For passengers, the practical consequence is that a “reopened” airport does not necessarily mean an on-time departure. Flight status can change repeatedly as carriers secure updated departure slots and reposition aircraft, which is why travelers are typically advised to check directly with their airline before heading to the terminal.

Airline schedule adjustments and what travelers may face

Published reporting in Russian and international outlets indicated that major domestic carriers, including Aeroflot and Pobeda, adjusted schedules in response to the overnight restrictions. Adjustments generally take the form of delayed departures, flight consolidations, aircraft swaps, and selective cancellations when the day’s planned rotation cannot be recovered.

In disruptions of this kind, travelers may also see reroutes to alternate airports, especially if aircraft are airborne when restrictions begin. Diversions can add hours not only because of the alternate landing, but also because aircraft and crews must be repositioned back into the scheduled network.

Another common pain point is baggage. When flights are delayed for long periods or rerouted, checked luggage can be separated from passengers or held until the operating carrier is able to complete sorting and loading under revised departure timelines.

Advice for passengers departing or connecting through Moscow

For anyone traveling to or from Moscow on September 20, the most reliable step is monitoring the airline’s own flight-status tools and the airport’s official departure and arrival displays, then timing ground transport accordingly. A delay posted early in the morning can expand later in the day as the aircraft and crew are affected by earlier disruptions.

Passengers with connections, especially those transiting Sheremetyevo, may want to verify minimum connection timing and recheck their onward segment status before clearing security or moving between terminals. When a hub is recovering, short connections can become missed connections, and rebooking queues can grow quickly.

Travelers should also keep documentation for any expenses they incur due to long delays, as airline policies can vary by fare type and route, and they may require receipts for reimbursement requests. Rules for compensation depend heavily on the jurisdiction and the specific ticket conditions, and publicly available information can differ by carrier and itinerary.

Broader context: rising airport disruptions tied to drone threats

The Moscow-area disruptions fit a broader pattern of airport interruptions in Russia linked to drone activity and air-defense alerts, which have periodically affected civil aviation schedules. Recent international reporting has described repeated closures and flight diversions across multiple regions during swarms of drone attacks, with ripple effects reaching leisure routes and major domestic corridors.

For international carriers and travelers, risk guidance has also become part of route planning. European aviation safety publications have continued to issue conflict-zone advisories related to operating in Russian airspace west of 60 degrees east longitude, which includes the Moscow flight information region, though such advisories are separate from short-notice local airport restrictions.

For now, the immediate travel story in Moscow is operational: a temporary halt in movements that turned into a systemwide backlog. As airlines and airports work through the accumulated delays, the clearest signal for passengers remains the live status of their specific flight, rather than the moment when the airport itself reopens.