Some 61 flights delayed at Russia's Sochi airport following drone attack

A total of 61 flights have been delayed at Russia’s Sochi International Airport, including 28 flights delayed by more than 10 hours, while another 10 flights have been cancelled, according to the airport’s online departure and arrival boards.

Among the severely delayed departures, 15 flights are more than 10 hours behind schedule. They include two flights to Samara and one each to Novokuznetsk, Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Stavropol, Saratov, Grozny, Krasnoyarsk, Ufa, Perm, Tyumen and Omsk, Russian media reports.

Thirteen arriving flights have also been delayed by more than 10 hours. They include flights from Perm, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Batumi, Novokuznetsk, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Samara.

Overall, 30 departing and 31 arriving flights have been delayed at Sochi Airport. Flights from Mineralnye Vody, Nizhnekamsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Kazan, Saratov, Makhachkala, Barnaul, Yekaterinburg and two flights from Moscow have been cancelled.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, has repeatedly introduced temporary restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures at Sochi and other airports in the country, citing flight safety concerns.

The latest restrictions at Sochi Airport were imposed at 1:40 a.m. Moscow time and lifted at 2:44 a.m. Restrictions were also introduced at nearby Gelendzhik Airport.

The disruption follows a drone attack on Sochi on September 4. Temporary restrictions on aircraft refuelling were also imposed at Sochi Airport following the attack.

By Sabina Mammadli