Heavy snowfalls delay Geneva-to-Moscow flights

The airport press secretary said there were no flights for six hours and the airport reopened only at 2:06 p.m. Moscow time.

The snow blanket on the airport runway grew to ten centimeters over the past night. The previous case of similar precipitation happened in 1985. Airport services were clearing the runway through the night but that was not enough.

The neighboring airports in Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery were also closed over snowstorms.

As of 8:30 p.m. Moscow time, two Aeroflot jets and one Swiss Air jet had departed to Moscow. An average delay of Aeroflot flights amounted to 80 minutes, while the Swiss Air flight was delayed for eight hours. Another Aeroflot flight is being delayed.

The number of Sunday flights to Moscow is thrice larger than usual, as many Russian tourists have chosen Switzerland as the place of their winter vacation this year; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.