Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Vnukovo International Airport is Moscow's oldest operating airport, lying in Vnukovo District some 28 km southwest of the city centre and ranking among the four major fields serving the Russian capital alongside Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. It offers two long intersecting hard runways with full ILS coverage, making it a substantial and historically significant destination for any simulator pilot flying into the Moscow area.
Vnukovo International Airport (ICAO UUWW, IATA VKO) is a major international airport serving the Moscow metropolitan area, operated as JSC
Vnukovo lies in Vnukovo District, about 28 km (17 miles) southwest of central Moscow, and is one of four major airports serving the Moscow metropolitan area alongside Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky. It is the highest of the Moscow airports, and this, combined with its location, has historically made it a useful alternate when fog affects the other fields.
Vnukovo has two physical runways. Runway 06/24 is 11,481 ft (06) / 11,480 ft (24) long, with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with ILS in both directions. Runway 01/19 is 10,026 ft (01) / 10,025 ft (19) long, also hard-surfaced, lit, and equipped with ILS in both directions. Field elevation is 643 ft.
Vnukovo provides a full range of services for arriving and departing traffic: Approach on 122.3 MHz, ATIS on 125.875 MHz, Ground on 120.45 MHz, a taxiing radar service on 126 MHz, and Tower on 118.3 MHz. The airport is equipped with ILS on both runway pairs, supporting instrument approaches in low visibility conditions.
Runway 24 is normally used for departures while Runway 01 is used for landings. Pilots should be aware that Vnukovo is occasionally closed to regular flights when VIP movements are arriving or departing, given the airport's VIP hall and its use by senior political figures including the Russian President.
Vnukovo is Moscow's oldest operating airport, its construction approved by the Soviet government in 1937 to relieve pressure on the older, more centrally located Khodynka Aerodrome. It was used for military operations during the Second World War before becoming a civilian facility afterwards. On 15 September 1956 a Tupolev Tu-104 made the type's first passenger flight from Vnukovo to Irkutsk via Omsk, and the airport also saw the first passenger flights of the Ilyushin Il-18 (to Alma-Ata, 20 April 1956) and the Tupolev Tu-114 (to Khabarovsk, 24 April 1961). On 4 November 1957 an aircraft carrying senior Romanian Workers' Party officials was involved in an accident at the airport, killing the crew and the country's foreign minister, Grigore Preoteasa, among others. The airport was expanded in 1980 for the Summer Olympic Games held in Moscow that year, and became a joint-stock company in 1993. A major reconstruction and development programme began in late 2003 following the transfer of the airport's controlling stake to the Moscow city government, bringing a new Terminal B in April 2004, a rail link to Kiyevsky Rail Terminal in August 2005, and a new Terminal A in December 2010; Terminal B was closed in 2016 once its operations moved into Terminal A. The airport has since been formally named Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport, after the aircraft designer.
Vnukovo remains a major hub, serving airlines including Azimuth, Azur Air, Gazpromavia, I-Fly, Pobeda, RusLine and Utair. Alongside its passenger terminal, the airport has a dedicated general aviation terminal handling charter and business flights, a cargo terminal, and a VIP facility used by political leaders visiting Russia, including the Russian President. A Tupolev airliner rework facility sits at the edge of the airfield, carrying out major overhaul and modification work, and a government VIP transport wing operates head-of-state flights from the northern perimeter of the airport.