Flight schedules at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg are facing significant disruptions as a result of ongoing restrictions due to drone attacks. On May 7, 2025, the press service of Pulkovo Airport announced potential changes to flight schedules, urging travelers to monitor information on the boards and contact airlines for updates.
Hundreds of passengers have been experiencing difficulties with departures. Since early Wednesday morning, planes have been lined up, waiting to take off from St. Petersburg and to disembark passengers. Many travelers have been stuck in aircraft for hours, with some, like the famous singer Nikolai Baskov, sharing their frustrations on social media. Baskov, who arrived from Irkutsk, reported a six-hour wait before passengers were allowed to disembark.
The situation at Pulkovo Airport has been described as tense, with some passengers laying on the floor, others calling relatives to complain, and some in tears from exhaustion. The online departure board indicated that 59 flights were delayed, primarily heading to Moscow, but also including destinations such as Sharm el-Sheikh, Istanbul, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Yerevan, Sochi, Saratov, Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad, Minsk, and Baku. Approximately ten flights were outright canceled, including those from AZAL to Baku, AJet and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, and several flights to Moscow operated by S7 Airlines, Rossiya, and Aeroflot.
The chaos at Pulkovo coincided with a serious security situation in Moscow, where drone attacks were reported. On the night of May 6, air defense forces shot down nine drones approaching the city, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. In response, Rosaviatsiya imposed a ban on aircraft arrivals and departures at Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, leading to further delays at Pulkovo, where 45 flights to Moscow were affected.
As the night wore on, ambulances were dispatched to Pulkovo to assist passengers who had been trapped in planes for around ten hours. The North-Western Transport Prosecutor's Office established a mobile reception at the airport to address passenger issues. By 9:04 AM, reports indicated that 74 aircraft had been redirected to Pulkovo due to the restrictions.
Airlines such as Pobeda and Aeroflot announced the cancellation of several flights on May 7 due to the ongoing limitations. The situation escalated as more flights were delayed or canceled, leaving many passengers stranded.
In addition to the chaos caused by the drone threat, passengers faced severe isolation at the airport. Reports indicated that during the delays, there was no internet access in the waiting area, which compounded frustrations. Passengers scheduled to fly to Kaluga at 12:05 AM on May 7 were informed of their flight's delay just an hour before departure. Initially postponed to 12:30 AM, the flight was then pushed back to 3:35 AM, and ultimately, passengers were taken to a hotel at around 6:30 AM, where they were told they would be departing at 8:30 AM.
However, this new departure time turned out to be another false hope. Throughout this ordeal, passengers were unable to contact family or management due to the lack of internet, and they could not return their tickets or arrange alternative transportation home. Many were left to sleep on benches or tables, waiting for updates.
Despite the airport staff's attempts to assist passengers, many expressed dissatisfaction with the handling of the situation, noting that employees seemed overwhelmed and, at times, unhelpful.
The online departure board continued to show delays, and the situation remained fluid as the airport worked to manage the influx of redirected flights from other airports affected by the drone attacks.
As of now, the situation at Pulkovo Airport is a stark reminder of the challenges posed by security threats in the region, impacting not only air travel but also the well-being of countless passengers caught in the crossfire of these events. The ongoing drone attacks and the resulting restrictions have created a perfect storm of travel chaos, leaving many to wonder when normalcy will return to the skies.
