Moscow Domodedovo Airport

I was traveling from Singapore to Houston and had a brief stopover. The terminal was very crowded and there was no place to sit/rest or what so ever. After a 10 hour flight from Singapore to Moscow we were exhausted. Then we had to stand in line for more than half an hour in security check up. The officers at the security were rude and didn't speak much English (what they said was barely comprehensible and some didn't speak at all - only gestures and bad attitude). After the tiring security checkup we headed for the restrooms which was crowded and didn't allow any personal space at all. Then there was no place to sit till your gate opened because it was very crowded.

Everything from train to plane worked fine. There was plenty of seating. Food options are overpriced but good quality. Security took 2 minutes immigration a breeze. Check in desk didn't have queue. Two free wifi networks clean toilets. Duty free was uninspiring. Polite staff. It's now fine or was I lucky?

Used this airport four times on my recent trip (twice in twice out) - as impressed as I was four years earlier. Immigration first time was quite quick but baggage was very slow (plane arrived at gate 0640 baggage on carousel 0730). Had flown in from Hong Kong but currency exchange would not accept Hong Kong Dollars. Got Airport Express train to Paveletsky Station - a long walk from International Terminal but easy to find. Returned three weeks later for flight to KBP - no currency exchange available for Ukrainian Gryvnia (unbelievable!). Food prices extortionate. Emigration easy (separate lanes for e-passports) and security quick. Immigration was slower second time around and baggage still slow. Final time through was for return flight to Hong Kong - was at airport early so wanted to use laptop but no free WiFi (you must purchase a card from the Internet Centre upstairs). Apart from the baggage delays and prices I'm very happy - 8/10.

Worst airport I have ever been in my life. We were stopped for a short layover from Singapore to Houston so we were not there for very long thank goodness. It was hot crowded and had no place to sit. The restrooms were filthy and without toilet paper. I did not know that you were not allowed to take photos inside the airport and I was chased down and had my arm grabbed and was yelled at to delete! I showed the person that I had deleted the photo but he then insisted on scrolling through my vacation photos anyway. After passing through security and the passport line I moved aside to wait for my 13 year old daughter and was yelled at again to Go! Very rude. Are you not allowed to wait for your child? I was not blocking the line and I was standing out of the way to let her pass through.

Used DME during the Christmas/New years season. Arrival was quick and I was through immigration customs et al. within half an hour. Limited exchange facilities--one bank with several locations and exchange rates that are slightly less favorable than intown. Getting to the Pavaletsky-bound train means going into the domestic terminal a lengthy walk with many signs although a couple are a little confusing as to direction. The train leaves every 30 or 60 minutes depending on time of day. On New Years (a big holiday in Russia) it was running to Pavaletsky but not to the airports. For departure I arrived early (3+ hours) because it was a holiday (New Years) and new procedures were rumored to be in place for US flights (turned out not to be the case). The train from Pavaletsky was not running in the am - taxi was R1500 (after an initial "offer" of R2000) - a hair-raising but uneventful ride. Note that the limited food/shopping options and non-existent seating on the ground floor of the departure terminal are just part of the story--seating and food/shopping are on the second floor. Passport control and security screening were uneventful and reasonably efficient. The departure areas are filled with upscale stores and the usual duty free stuff. Expect to pay 50-100% more for food and drink than you would in the city. Most airports seem to have stopped this kind of nonsense. I saw no place to exchange money beyond passport control so you should change at the ground floor bank kiosk by the check-in counters.

Arrived at 0215h and the experience (passport baggage collection green channel) was businesslike and less than 30 minutes in duration. My anxiety about waiting for a domestic connection until 0730 were unfounded as airport is open all night with plenty of comfortable seating cafes etc. Was also possible to check my bag in immediately rather than wheel it round.

On arrival we breezed through immigration (maybe it was due to the 0030hrs arrival time and second to the immigration gate) collected luggage and was out the door within 30 mins. Helpful staff from Austrian checked us in and we were through immigration of the way out again within 20 mins or so. Maybe we were lucky ?

I would rather come to this airport than Sheremetyevo. But be prepared to go through the same soviet-style chaos. We came off a Lufthansa flight and the first thing we had to do after getting off the airbridge go down three flights of stairs. Then there is the passport control. Only two clerks serving for about 150 passengers. Plus the queue is horrendous. You start lining up and then a whole rush of people start coming and start pushing in. Passport control isn't put in a proper place. It's at a weird angle so the queue goes all over the place. Speaking of all over the place- the baggage area is nearly the same. We had to wait for around 15 minutes for our baggage. The baggage area is just a big circle and with people walking around the place there's not enough space to move. A big relief when we picked up our baggage but it doesn't end.

I flew to DME from LHR with low expectations. However within 45 minutes of landing I had cleared immigration collected my baggage changed some money and been picked up by the pre-arranged taxi. The Immigration Officer didn't speak much English but was able to smile and say "Welcome to Moscow" after she had finished stamping my passport. The departure was a bit problematic. The BMI check-in staff seemed more pre-occupied in arranging the bollards for the queue to follow rather than actually checking in the passengers. Then I was directed to the fast-track area to clear emigration but unfortunately this took over an hour whereas I could see the queuing time in the normal area was only about 30 minutes ! The security was even slower. The Transaero Business Lounge is spacious with an airside view. There was a reasonable choice of snacks although the choice of alcoholic drinks was very limited. At the departure gate I was able to access the internet free of charge. Overall the experience of this airport was much better than I had expected and I would have no worries about using it again.

What a difference from SVO arrived from London a friendly immigration officer. On leaving immigration it was a nice feeling not to be stalked by taxi drivers and the atmosphere was much more relaxed. Flew a few days later onto Ekaterinburg and had to wait an extra 3 hours as Ural airlines merged our flight with another and it is bright clean friendly airport with plenty of choices in shopping and activites and everything well signposted! We travelled with our 11 month old son and my wife was delighted to discover nurseries around the airport. It is a well thought out airport and it made our extra wait at the airport much more relaxing. Superb!