The key facts
- Eight flights from St. Petersburg and Moscow were delayed at Kaliningrad airport on November 1
- In late October, 109 flights were delayed or cancelled at Moscow airports
- On the night of October 26, the Carpet plan — a closed-sky regime — was declared at the Moscow aviation hub
Delays in Kaliningrad
At Kaliningrad airport on the morning of November 1, eight flights were delayed, according to data from the airport's online departures board. The schedule disruptions affected aircraft flying from St. Petersburg and Moscow. Passengers can check the current schedule on the airport's online board page.
Context: October disruptions at the Moscow aviation hub
This is not the first episode of large-scale disruptions in recent days: according to Gazeta.Ru, in late October at Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports 109 flights were delayed or cancelled. On the night of October 26, the Carpet plan was declared at the Moscow hub airports: at Sheremetyevo, 49 flights were cancelled or delayed that night, at Vnukovo — 50, and at Domodedovo — 10.
What is the Carpet plan
The Carpet plan is a closed-sky regime for all aircraft: an order for immediate landing, or the removal from a defined zone, of all airplanes and helicopters in the air. It can be activated for various reasons — for example, during sudden weather changes that pose a threat to flights, when a vessel of another state violates the airspace, or during drone attacks.
What remains unknown
The publication does not state the reason for the delay of the eight flights in Kaliningrad, and there are no grounds to link it directly to the October disruptions in Moscow — these are separate episodes. The outlet separately mentioned that an aircraft previously flying from Amsterdam to Edinburgh issued an emergency signal; the connection between this incident and the delays at Russian airports is not disclosed.
