Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot has canceled over 40 flights from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Wednesday, riling stranded passengers even more.
The company's website said Aeroflot, which is based at Sheremetyevo, had canceled 42 domestic and international flights on Wednesday.
The Internet is exploding with stories of troubled vacationers and their relatives whose Christmas and New Year's vacations have turned into a nightmare.
"Let Misha go!..Your planes are flying, you SOBs! Misha is not going on vacation, Misha is dead. His parents are waiting for him. His wife isn't crying anymore, she's just puking. Let Misha go!!!" a female blogger named eprst2000 said, whose relative is stranded at Sheremetyevo trying to leave for Russia's southern city of Simferopol to bury her late husband.
The administrator in the airport's business lounge, where stranded passengers could spend some time for 1,500 rubles (around $50) and have unlimited free alcohol, said the room was extremely overcrowded.
"Everybody got trashed, but we did not stop selling alcohol. Otherwise they would just tear us to pieces," she said, adding the champagne was particularly popular as the traditional holiday drink.
Meanwhile, the situation in another Moscow airport, Domodedovo, is improving.
Over 1,000 passengers remain stranded as of December 29, a spokeswoman for Domodedovo, Yelena Galanova, told Rossiya 24 TV channel.
The airport announced earlier in the day that all passengers waiting for their flights since the weekend have departed.
Thousands of passengers were stranded at Moscow airports following an ice storm that hit the entire territory of Central Russia over the weekend. Hundreds of flights have been canceled and delayed as severe freezing rain caused serious power outages.
According to the Russian Tourism Association, some 20,000 passengers have been affected by the flight chaos, while airport authorities said the number was 10,000.
MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti)
