Going to Uzbekistan. Have separate tix to Moscow and then to Taskent. Layover of 5 or six hours. Will not be leaving the airport (SVO). Once I have my Uzbekistan visa, will I need a Russian transit visa? (US Passport.) Do transit pax at SVO have access to restaurants, shops, and lounges?

Thanx.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rb.sr:
Will not be leaving the airport (SVO). </font>

Sorry, wrong assumption. Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow (SVO) has 2 terminals that operate in a way like two separate airports using the same airfield.

Your transatlantic flight comes into Sheremetyevo-2, and your flight to TAS departs from Sheremetyevo-1. You will have to leave airside to transfer between the terminals (unless some special VIP-type arrangements are made to get you driven across the airfield).

Also, your airline will not let you board the transatlantic flight without Russian visa. If you check Delta's Visa & Passport Information (http://www.delta.com/travel/trav_serv/intl_travel/timatic/index.jsp), you'll see the rules:

"If airport of arrival is different from the airport of departure within the same Russian city (e.g. arriving at Sheremetyevo-2 and departing from Sheremetyevo-1 airport in Moscow): transit visa required as entering territory of the Russian Fed."

That info. is correct.

Only consolation is, the Russian Embassy will issue a transit visa on production of both your tickets, but they WILL also charge you for it. Make sure to get a DOUBLE visa if you're coming back by the same route!

aha, my own question answered.

Aeroflot provides no-visa transfer service to its own pax. Details on their web site: http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/classify.asp?c_no=742

rb.sr -- You never mentioned that you were flying Aeroflot. If you are not flying them, keep in mind that most other airlines subscribe to the Timatic visa information, and they would have the same information in their computers as Delta (see the link in my post above).