Part 22: Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO)
Moscow and Jazz lounges

After a good night of sleep I woke up for another long day of travelling which would first take me back to Paris CDG with Aeroflot and then with Sky Team minnows TAROM to my home base of Bucharest. First however it was time for some breakfast at the Pushkin Hotel, which was acceptable enough with decent coffee, eggs and potato cakes



It was a cold day and not too pleasant to drag along my trolley through snowy Moscow streets to the nearby Tverskaya metro station. But as my flight would only depart at 1.05pm and I had plenty of time, I still vastly preferred a metro and train ride above a taxi given my fascination for train and metro networks.


Tverskaya metro station


Riding the long escalators down to the platform

It is only two stops from Tverskaya to the railway terminus of Belorussky (Belarus) Station from where the Sheremetyevo airport express departs. Yet you'd be crazy to stay on the train and not to get off at the intermediate metro station of Mayakovskaya – which is in my opinion one of the most beautifully designed of the entire Moscow metro network. And given there are trains every two minutes, you hardly lose any time at all getting off – snapping a picture – and getting on the next train again!


Mayakovskaya metro station

I was lucky again to encounter a half-empty train at Belorrusky Station and I had nobody sitting next nor opposite of me.


Watching out of the train window while stationary at Belorrusky Station

It was again a fairly long walk from the Sheremetyevo railway terminus to Terminal D from where my flight to Paris would depart. Although nowhere close to being beautiful or having any kind of groundbreaking architecture, the airport does feel quite spacious and never felt crowded. That included the check-in area, which had a separate area for business class passengers. With just 2 people in front of me, I was quickly helped and had my Aeroflot boarding pass in my hand. Unfortunately, the check-in agent could not get me a boarding pass for my connecting TAROM flight, but as I already checked in online for the flight and had a mobile boarding pass it did not matter too much.




Check-in counters for Aeroflot at Terminal D.

The lines at security and passport control were a breeze and with two hours to spare before departure I was airside at Sheremetyevo.

It was my first time at Terminal D (having previously only seen F when once flying to Copenhagen, and obviously the domestic terminal on my way to Irkutsk). For those with a priority pass, flying business class or having elite status, there are ample of choices for lounges. Frankly, there were so many available that I hardly knew which one too visit, there also being little information about it online.

After exchanging my last Rubles for Euros I went to the first lounge I encountered – which is one floor up straight after security. Called the Jazz lounge, it is only accessible for Aeroflot passengers AFAIK. Like the domestic lounge, the first impression was rather bad as it was very dark and absolutely crowded. The only seats available were stools on a long table.

Offerings in the lounge were decent enough, OK coffee, some breakfast stuff, the usual amount of booze.. and lots of sweets! I therefore decided to have a second breakfast LOTR-style and get myself a cup of coffee and some OJ while trying every sweet I could find in true Hobbit style. The little cakes were however visually more appealing than they tasted.






Jazz Lounge at Terminal D

As I didn't really like the lounge, I went for a quest to find a better place to spend my time. Right next to my departure gate I found the 'Moscow Lounge', which is mostly used by all kinds of passholders, but also available for Aeroflot flyers. Even though it was absolutely packed to the brim at 11am – I found it more pleasant than the Jazz lounge as it had some natural light coming in from the terminal corridor which separates it from the tarmac. I managed to grab a seat by the window so I could look out over the same-floor terminal.

When I arrived they were changing the food offerings from breakfast to lunch, with a soup and a huge bowl of chicken wings available. As I was not hungry, I didn't partake. Instead I just had a glass of bubbly and some water.

The Moscow Lounge is again nothing to write home about – but vastly superior to Jazz in my opinion. Yet I would never go out of my way to arrive early at SVO or to have a long connection here, as what I've heard there is simply not such a thing as a good lounge at any major Moscow Airport.








The 'Moscow Lounge' in Terminal D

As I didn't feel like drinking more before the flight and it was getting so crowded that many people were even standing all over the lounge, I decided to leave and just wander a bit around the gate area.


Departure gate for my Paris flight


The Aeroflot bird which would take me to Paris

In short: While much better than the domestic lounge, the international lounges at Terminal D are nothing to write home about. There are quite some other lounges available besides the two I tried, but what I've heard they are all more or less the same. Sheremetyevo is not necessarily a bad airport when it comes to lay-out, design, spaciousness or queues (although nothing great either) – the lounges are something which definitely could and should be improved as they are no way on par with the level of Aeroflot's business class.

Next up: Flying to Paris CDG in Aeroflot business class