A flight initially scheduled to depart from Tobolsk to Moscow was abruptly altered by Tatarstan airline YUVT Aero. The service was first delayed, then cancelled, and finally rerouted to a different city. Passengers reported receiving no timely notification or clear instructions on the changes.
The flight from Remizov Airport in Tobolsk to the capital was initially set for 8:00 PM local time today but was pushed back to 10:30 PM. Subsequently, the online departure board showed the flight as cancelled, information that passengers at the airport discovered themselves rather than being officially informed. Closer to the original 8:00 PM departure time, passengers received an SMS message indicating the flight was rerouted to Tyumen, with a transfer promised from Tobolsk airport.
Airline representatives offered no clear explanation for the changes, recounts Polina Fedoseeva, a colleague attempting to return home from a press tour:
Polina Fedoseeva
Business FM Staff«We found out the flight was cancelled practically by chance, because we walked past the online schedule and saw this information. Nobody notified us over the loudspeaker. We went to the information desk, where an airline representative was standing. We asked what our next steps were, what we should do, what the reasons were? They told us they had no information, to wait. At 8 PM, an SMS message came to all passengers saying that a transfer from Tobolsk airport to Tyumen airport would be organized at 8 PM, from where the flight would depart. Eight PM came, no transfer. We went to the information desk again. They replied: finally, they managed to arrange a bus, and it will pick you up at 10:30 PM, and the estimated departure time is half past midnight. But there`s a nuance: driving from Tobolsk to Tyumen takes a little over three hours. So, there`s no way we`ll make this flight. To the question `what should we do?`, they said: the plane will wait for you because it`s already there. As of now, there is information that we will fly out not at half past midnight, not at 1 AM, but at 2 AM. But this time can also change. The airline representative also said that hot meals and water would be provided. We have water here, which cannot be said about hot meals, because they are also being brought from somewhere. The airport does not operate 24 hours a day, but according to a specific schedule – at 8:15 PM, all employees left. Only security and the airline representative remained.»
According to the airport`s online schedule, the Tobolsk — Moscow flight was listed as delayed by 2.5 hours before being marked as cancelled. No further official information was available.
