Moscow Vnukovo airport: will the Qatar Airways deal go ahead?

A couple of years ago Qatar Airways surprised the air transport business by signing an MoU for the acquisition of a 25% stake in Moscow's Vnukovo Airport.

Moscow Vnukovo International Airport is one of three airports serving the city of Moscow, and one of the largest airports in Russia. Located 28km southwest of city, the airport features a high speed rail link between Kievsky Train Station in downtown Moscow and the Airport's passenger terminals. The airport acts as an alternate for Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports.

Qatar is not the only airline to engage in the airport operating business, and the CAPA Airport Investors Database lists more than 30 other such examples where airlines have tried (and in some cases succeeded) in entering the airport sector.

But the deal is still not yet finalised, and with everything that is going on just now, together with previous examples of difficulties where foreign companies have tried to invest in Russian airports (such as Fraport at St Petersburg), there is no guarantee that this deal will be concluded.

And in any case Qatar Airways is preoccupied now with its investment in Kigali, Rwanda.