Russian authorities on Thursday closed all four of Moscow’s airports, plus a fifth one in a city about 100 miles southwest of the country’s capital, citing unspecified safety concerns.
In total five airports, four of which are located in Russia’s capital, Moscow, were “temporarily not accepting or sending flights,” according to a statement from Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia.
“To ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights, temporary restrictions have been introduced on the operation of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Kaluga airports,” Rosaviatsia, said in a post on Telegram.
The Moscow airports reopened after being briefly closed. The fifth airport is in Kaluga, around 100 miles from Moscow remained closed Thursday afternoon.
Officials did not give an immediate or precise reason for the closures.
“Aircraft crews, air traffic controllers and airport services take all necessary measures to ensure flight safety — this is the top priority,” according to the official statement posted to Telegram.