Russia must improve navigation equipment and pilot training to allow its airports to work more efficiently in poor weather conditions, transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Monday.

He said the recent disruption in air traffic at Moscow's airports due to smoke from severe peat and wild fires across Central Russia were caused by the absence of the necessary navigation systems.

"All aircraft should have navigation equipment, allowing them to fly in poor weather conditions," Levitin said.

An increase in smog on August 6 caused many Moscow-borne flights to be redirected to other Russian cities, such as St. Petersburg, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod.

Delays at Moscow's airports peaked on Saturday and early Sunday. The situation was brought under control by Sunday evening when 104,044 passengers left the city, the highest number ever to leave the capital on a single day all year.

Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia said there were 879 arrivals and 845 departures to and from Moscow's airports on Sunday.

Earlier this year, the vast majority of Russian and European companies suspended flights for several weeks due to the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Airlines are estimated to have lost $1.7 billion over the disruption to air traffic, according to a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti)