The following guests of honour have attended the ceremony: Head of Presidental Administration, Sergey Ivanov, Minister of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, Counsellor to the President of Russia, Igor Levitin, and other representatives of federal and local authorities. One of the Russia’s most famous “voices”, Merited Master of Arts, People’s Artiste of Russia, Evgeny Khoroshevtsev, acted as the host of the ceremony.

The Head of Presidental Administration, Sergey Ivanov, delivered the opening speech and congratulated the Vnukovo’s personnel on another important milestone in the airport’s history.

«I am glad to attend the ceremony dedicated to the opening of this advanced terminal meeting all the requirements of international standards. I started supervising the transportation industry in 2006 and this project was being started at that time. I hope that other airports will follow the Vnukovo’s lead and upgrade their infrastructure to provide the highest level of safety and comfort», 
— Sergey Ivanov said.

The Minister of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, highly appreciated the achievements of Vnukovo airport and presented an honorary diploma of the Ministry of Transport to the airport’s personnel. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vnukovo Airport, Vitaly Vantsev, was invited to receive the diploma.

«I am glad to receive such a high appraisal and I would like to thank the government of Russian Federation, Ministry of Transport and government of Moscow for supporting the project. However, we see all the kind words addressed to Vnukovo airport as an advance, because we still have to show our work at Terminal A »,

— VitalyVantsevnoted. He also thanked architects, designers and builders, which were able to complete the construction of the terminal quickly and effectively, even under conditions of working airport.

CEO of UTair Aviation, Andrey Martirosov, and CEO of Transaero, Olga Pleshakova, have also congratulated Vnukovo airport. UTair Aviation is the long-standing partner of Domodedovo airport. The airline performs over 100 flights from Vnukovo per day. UTair is the base carrier of Vnukovo airport.

Atthesametime, TransaerohasrecentlystarteditsactivitiesattheairportandthecarrierissuccessfullydevelopingitsroutenetworkfromVnukovo. It is one of the airport’s most important strategic partners. Olga Pleshakova is the first-ever woman to become the CEO of an airline in Russia. The carrier has established itself as one of the Russia’s leading airlines under the leadership of Olga Pleshakova.

One of the most spectacular and memorable moments of the ceremony was the drawing of curtain, which separated the working zone of the airport from the newly-built one. This solemn moment was accompanied by the orchestra of the Moscow musical theater Helikon-opera. Its artists have put on a great concert for the guests later. Their repertoire included famous arias and fragments from operas and operettas.

At the end of the ceremony the guests were able to take a tour of the new part of Terminal A. In particular, the new advanced two-storied jet bridge with three sleeves intended for servicing Airbus A380 aircraft was demonstrated to the visitors. In addition, the attention of the guests was invited to interactive presentations of a single multi-platform solution intended for airport management system - GroundStar, VKO Air landing time evaluation system, etc.

The implementation of the project for construction of Terminal A with a total area of 270 thousand square meters was started in February 2006 in the network of large-scale program for upgrading and development of Vnukovo airport. The construction of the Russia’s largest terminal with a capacity of 30 million passengers per year has been completed in six years. As a result the terminal’s area was increased by 96 thousand square meters. 

The project of the new terminal is based upon concept elaborated by Obermeyer Consult (Germany) and developed by Metrogiprotrans – the Russia’s leading planning and surveying company, which specializes on construction of transportation facilities and underground development. The project was awarded with a gold medal of World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and Technology “Brussels Eureka 2006”.

The two-storied elevated roadways have been constructed along the terminal’s face in order to provide comfortable approach to the building. It helps to distribute the traffic flows of arriving and departing passengers. The length of this elevated road is about 2.5 km. It intersects Borovskoe and Kievskoe highway.

Terminal A has 5 levels, including the underground one, which is joined with a unique underground railroad station. High-speed “Aeroexpress” electric trains arrive at the station from Kievsky railroad passenger terminal. The luggage rooms and underground walkway connecting the terminal with a hotel located at the airport land side are located at this level.

The first above-ground level is intended for servicing the arriving passengers. The departure area is located on the next level. A business lounge is located on the third floor. The latest press, cooling beverages, buffet dinner and wellness chairs are offered to the passengers in the lounge. Spacious concourses, shops, food service areas and other organizations of the service sector are located on each level of Terminal A. The departing passengers with kids may also use free game room located on the second floor.

Since the terminal has a through division into two zones – the ones intended for servicing domestic and international passengers, here, as against many other airports of Russia and Europe, you may move from the domestic flights zone to the international flights zone without leaving the building.

The control tower is located right in the center of the “drop” in a separate “cup” at the height of 40 meters.