Moscow Domodedovo Airport

Departed via DME August - it was a shambles. Terminal was jampacked queued for just over 1 hour at check-in followed by 1 hour at passport control in 25-30c heat (times and temp. not exaggerated) plus sundry delays/checks. If we had arrived at the required 2 hours prior to departure we would have missed our flight. Have never experienced such an awful international airport. Got the impression that the terminal needed to be around 3-4 times bigger.

Domodedovo is going down. I used it twice last week and was unpleasantly surprised on both arrival and departure. On arrival the immigration was a mess. Huge crowds of people arriving from international flights and only one third of booths manned. No line management at all. People jumping a queue unhelpful and arrogant staff. On departure I've noticed a very certain lack of fresh air in the newly opened part of the departures hall. Once at an earlier built area an air becomes normal. Dirty toilets inefficient security.

Just used DME for first time since Lufthansa switched from SVO and there is no comparison. It's clean bright shiny has nice business-class lounges. Smokers have to use those little fish-tank rooms so the place doesn't stink. And there is an express train to Paveletsky Station for only 150 rubles. Compared to sitting in Moscow traffic for 2-3 hours from SVO for 1500 rubles this is awesome. They are building Terminal 3 at Sheremetovo along with an express train to the city. Until it's functional when traveling to Moscow I'm happy to fly into DME.

Left DME on Lufthansa who just switched from SVO. Much better airport both coming in and going out. Cleaner brighter and better access than SVO. No driving to switch terminals from international to domestic just walk inside to other terminal. Used this terminal last year coming from London going to Irkutsk same experience but with no construction this time. Will use this airport and local hotel from now on I will avoid SVO if at all possible whenever I can!

I've been flying to Sakhalin through Domodedovo and it was awful. It looks nice and clean but if anything happens nobody will help you. I had unexpected problems with oversized luggage. The staff was extremely rude. While I was arguing with them I was delayed so that I almost missed my plane. Later I realized that they simply wanted a bribe. So if you encounter unexpected problems when everything should be ok it most probably means that they just want a little cash. I don't understand what's the point in making the airport look european if they treat passengers Soviet-style.

I used Domodedovo last week for departure to Kiev. First notice. Less and less airlines are allowed for in-town check-in. Less and less airlies provide free rail transfer. The airport itself remains very well organised clean and easy to navigate through. Two serious minuses. Most of the airlines haven't heard about line management. It causes situations like the one I was in. My flight was about to leave in 55 minutes. Despite being checked in online i should stay in regular line because they don't have bag drop-off desks. When having being in the line for about 20 minutes (the queue was about 35 people) I've decided to take a look at the other side of the isle of desks and found there three working check-in desks with nobody lining up. Would be very helpful to have line manager there. Immigration on departure was slow and not very polite. Departure area after security is full of good cafes and shops but very overpriced. Boarding was not throgh airbridge but they bussed us to the plane fast.

I used DME several times last year on my first visit to Russia and was very impressed. Forget the comments about it being excellent by "Russian" standards - it compares very well with other airports. First experience was arriving from BKK on Thai Airways - plenty of staff available at immigration and no hassle (all complete and through to baggage claim within five minutes of joining the queue). Baggage took 30 minutes then out into the concourse. It was much less crowded than Don Muang and much better laid out. After changing some money and escaping the taxi touts I got the express train to Paveletsky - highly recommended even if some grizzle about the lack of air-conditioning. Make sure that you walk all the way to the front of the train so that you have less distance to walk when you reach the city. Next use was arriving domestically from St Petersburg - no problems and baggage waiting when we got to the conveyor. Stayed overnight at Airport Hotel (noisy and overpriced for what it provides) then back to the airport for an early flight to Kazan. Security - only 5 minutes. I returned 10 days later - no problems again. Last time was when flying back to BKK - check-in only took 15 minutes despite a full load including a big tour group of Thais and easy progress through Customs and Security. Then came the only drama I had at this airport - there is no currency exchange facility airside! Helpful security staff sympathised with my predicament (I had lots of roubles still in my pocket) but wouldn't let me back into the main concourse to return to the bank. The story ends with me still having lots of roubles as I couldn't change them anywhere else. Overall impression of this airport was excellent - Sheremetyevo is another story!

I used Domodedovo on a couple of occasions in June. The airport train from Paveletsky Station was badly signposted. There are four halls to choose from - by trial and error (welcome to Russia). It is located in Hall 3. The ticket counter to the Airport was closed because the power went out (welcome to Russia). The 'Help' Desk wasn't able to help. Power came back on ticket was sold. The train is the old rattly variety departing every 40 min. No airconditioning. Then again I can only compare with Vienna and HK. If you use the city check-in you're on the train for free. Airport itself was busy being holiday and charter season. Austrian's check-in went smoothly. Since we were Senator members we got to use the VIP passport control and security. A new whole-body scanner was in use though it broke down and we had to wait ca. 10 minutes for it to reboot. So much for VIP service. Airport facilities are excellent - lots of shops and a whole food court upstairs. Sheremetyevo take note! Arrival too was a breeze. Toilets were clean stocked and functional a welcome worthy of the name. Immigration was the usual Russian mess with no clear line(s) but push your way to the front and feign ignorance. Baggage arrived quickly enough and after the customs gauntlet you run the taxi mafia gauntlet (though not as bad as Sheremetyevo. Due to the reconstruction getting out of the arrivals hall to the car park was badly signposted. Some inconvenience but temporary hopefully. In all a positive airport experience on a global scale. And for Russian standards simply outstanding!

Recently arrived to and departed from Domodedovo. I was surprised how smooth everything was. The airport is well organized - facilities clean toilets clean and well stocked (this is Russia!). Arrivals (I tried both domestic and international) are clearly signposted immigration took less than 10 minutes. Baggage in 15 minutes. In-town check-in worked well direct train is a great plus to this airport. The staff were polite. Food facilities and landside shops are good but very overpriced. Airside facilities could not be better. Very light and airy halls with lots of space.

Not a bad airport and currently better than Shemeretyvo for arrival and departure. That said there are a lot of improvements to cut out some of the bureaucracy - and the touts that seem to pop up everywhere around the airport. Immigration and customs service can be really slow and the staff are are "charming" as at SVO !