I am a video producer, so I often travel with a lot of equipment in bags. Is DME customs set up as a "goods" or "nothing to declare" system...or do I have to put EVERYTHING through xray and wait? I've gone through this other places and it can be very time consuming, especially when suspicious officials have lots of questions about the cameras. If this is the case at DME, I might opt to pack differently.

Moscow is a good place for suspicious officials so do keep that in mind.

My experience at DME is the Green Line means go right on through. However, there are x-rays there that the overseeing officials can definitely ask you to put your stuff through. The more stuff you have and the more "unique" your luggage looks the more likely you are to be asked. I've always positioned myself right behind unknowing passengers with lots of suspicious bags who go in front of me, get asked to unload their stuff, and go through the rigamarole. Remember that if the person in front of you gets stopped that does not mean you have to stop. Just keep walking straight ahead until someone tells you to stop.

DME is pretty easy really. That's why they are the premier airport in Russia today.

Good luck and do report back how your experience went!

thanks! i decided to pack everything in suitcases instead of grip bags, so we'll see how it goes. ill let you know in a couple weeks.

Hey...sorry for the slow response. I had absolutely no trouble at DME...other than immigrations was terribly slow. The x-ray machines on the way out of the airport were shut down, so no hassle. I was also surprised at the relative ease of flying out through SVO. I've heard horror stories. It must have improved quite a bit in the past few years. My only gripe was with the $20 TGI Friday's burger at the airport!

A lot of airlines moved from SVO to DME in the last couple of years - and took the horrors with them. SVO is a breeze to fly through nowadays while DME gets all the congestion, delays and luggage problems. I recently flew out of and into DME for the frist time in years and was really apalled. Separate J/F immigration/security line - sadly, on departure only, in the case of SQ - and better lounges seemed like the only two good things about it

Depending on where and how long you've been in the country, some folks would pay twice that for one of those burgers!

Glad you had a good experience. Indeed SVO is a pretty easy place now to get in and out of.

Another thread, of older vintage than this, reports on a significant amount of disappearing bags at SVO--any experience with DME? I have a lengthy trip coming up, and would like to check a bag, but not for the purpose of donating it to the Russian mafia.

In 14 years flying into SVO and DME I have never had a bag go missing or anything stolen, and I have never known anyone who has. That's not to say it cannot happen, but I wouldn't particularly panic about it.

In 16 years I have had only some locks busted (and that might be handling more than snooping) but never a bag missing and not recovered. Absolutely, don't panic.