Moscow Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport — Local services in Khimki

Hello,

My name is Olga Koloyartseva. I travelled with AirFrance on January 7th 2017 from Toronto to Moscow via Paris. I checked in 4 pieces of luggage in Toronto Pearson International Airport: 2 regular big luggage, 1 feeding chair (unassembled and wrapped) and 1 carry on luggage. I never intended to check my carry on luggage and had all my valuables there. However Air France representative asked me to check it. I was never asked whether I had any important things inside and assumed that the carry on luggage will go to a separate area in the plane. We never wrapped the luggage and did not put any lock on it as we did not know that it will be taken to a luggage side of the plane. On January 8th 2017 I arrived to Moscow at Sheremetyevo Airport but never received my carry on luggage. I filled the case right away at the airport but it's been more than 7 days and no one can identify where this carry on luggage is.

On January 8th, upon hearing the news about the luggage, my daughter drove to the Pearson airport right away and spoke to the manager Grace at Air France. She was kind enough to check the back office system and she informed her that the carry on luggage was scanned only once: when the gentlemen accepted the luggage from me. Grace was not able to locate any more scans which meant that she was not sure where the luggage was even boarded to the plane to Paris or whether the person who was loading the luggages just miss-scanned my carry on.

Upon now my daughter in Moscow contacted Sheremetyevo Airport Lost & Found Service for more than 5 times per day and the answers of operator (Elena) who is working there is always misleading. For example, the piece of luggage similar to mine was found in Paris and just when my daughter called the service of lost and found of Sheremetyevo they asked her again and again what is inside of the luggage but we have already uploaded summary in official webside in our file 8th of January. When my daughter called later the same day another lady from the same service again asked her what is inside of the luggage and informed as brand new information that they found the luggage similar to mine what I had already confirmed early that was not mine. Why there is no consistency in process of finding the luggage.

Till now, we did everything we could to find this carry on luggage. We filed the official claim on the website, we listed all inventory in the luggage, we called multiple times to both Air France call centre here in North America, there in Russia plus lost & found department in Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. The loss of this luggage affected the life not only me but also of my family and my daughter's family back in Russia and Toronto. The items that were in this carry on luggage were not just meaningful but also sentimental for all of us.

I am asking you from the bottom of my heart to help us to find this luggage. Air France call agent mentioned that since the luggage was not scanned in Paris, there is a chance that it might be mis-tagged and can be in Paris -Charles de Gauelle airport. Please, please, please, ask an agent to check the luggages that are in the area without tags or not sent due to some other reasons.

The below is all information that I have about this carry on. Thank you in advance for all your help. I know that it seams just a small thing to lose a luggage, but for all my family it's been very hard days for all of us.

Name of the passenger: Olga Koloyartseva Flight Date: January 7th 2017 Flight Numbers: AF351 (Toronto-Paris) and AF1044 (Paris-Moscow) Carry on luggage: Samsonite bright orange carry on luggage with 4 wheels [ the first item inside the luggage Pajar black winter boots size 11] File number: SVOAF49260 Carry on tag: AF376404

I apologize for such a long letter, but it seems like the loss of this carry on does not allow my family to start this year from the positive note. Thank you...

Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) named after A.S. Pushkin is one of the largest airports in Russia, located 30 km from Moscow. It is one of the ten largest airports in Europe. The most multi-terminal airport in Russia. Important! Check your departure terminal in advance, because airlines sometimes change their schedules.

Terminals A, B and C belong to the Southern Terminal Complex (Sheremetyevo-1). Terminal A was the first passenger terminal, opened in 1964, but now it is intended for private flights - it was replaced by the new Terminal B, which has been operating since 2018 and serves domestic and some international flights. Aeroflot, Rossiya, Pobeda and other airlines fly here.

Terminal C is used mainly for international flights and business aviation. It is less crowded than B and there is a covered passage between them - it takes about 5-10 minutes to walk.

If you need to get to the Northern Terminal Complex (D, E, F), you can take the Aeroexpress or a free bus.

So, first, let's talk about Terminal B. Opened in 2018, its capacity is up to 20 million passengers per year. Serves domestic and some international flights of airlines: Aeroflot, Rossiya, Pobeda, UTair and so on.

There are 108 check-in counters inside.

SVO Duty Free shops operate in the international departures sector.

Additional services: cafes, pharmacies, ATMs, children's rooms, a mother and child room, free Wi-Fi.

Terminal B has two main business lounges: Rublev and Kandinsky.

The Rublev business lounge is located on the 3rd floor of Terminal B, in the security area, next to boarding gates 105 and 106. It is very large, with a capacity of 500 seats and occupies two floors with a total area of up to 2,600 m². Its design is inspired by Russian culture, made by a famous bureau, and has received many awards, for example, in 2018 it was recognized as the best in Russia and the CIS according to the Business Traveller Awards. I read on the Internet that it has the longest business lounge buffet in the world - 34 meters. On the second floor of Rublev, there is a Clarins Skin Spa zone.

Overall, a good impression of the business lounge, but there are a number of comments. The toilet needs to be cleaned better, it is not very neat. They clear the tables slowly, reluctantly, lazily. The employees at the food distribution try, smile, are friendly. The hall itself is very comfortable, there are places to lie down or eat in a pleasant atmosphere. At the entrance to the hall, they sell products made in Siberia, as well as black and red caviar in jars. We got impressive photos of unusual products. It would probably be good to bring something from Siberia as a gift, for example, dried berries.

Most impressive was the passage through the inspection counters at the entrance to the terminal. This is not how to treat people. Visitors move in line for about 40 minutes to get their things inspected. Very inconvenient, slow. The hall has low ceilings, hundreds of people in a small room.

After that, of course, you get into the beautiful halls of Terminal B, spacious, with many shops and cafes. Everything is done very well here, at a high level. But the terminal begins with the entrance, where the inspection takes place, and here it is necessary to create the same conditions so that people can get to the main halls without such queues and difficulties. Make a place in one of the lounges where hundreds of passengers are served at the same time, so that it is spacious, comfortable and light. This is a proposal to the airport management. Try to go through such difficulties when entering the terminal with your things. After all, because of this, some passengers are late to check in their luggage for their flights. A suggestion for the airport management would be to improve the security check area to make it more spacious...

WORST SERVICE AT THE VENDING MACHINES SPECIFICALLY THE ELECTRONICS ONE, IT WILL SOMETIMES STEAL YOUR MONEY AND NOT GIVE YOU THE ITEMS PURCHASED / AEROFLOT AIRLINES IS THE WORST AIRLINE!

1. The Aeroflot team was nice and friendly on the plane itself, but what happened with my 3 friends who didn't end up getting on the return flight back to Beirut with me, was the worst travel experience ever. The lady at the Gate, a lady called Alexis I believe or Christina (both were present when this incident happened) would not let my friends board the plane 30 minutes at least prior to take-off because they were supposedly "late" to get to the gate, even though they had already checked in a long time ago, and the airport did not call out their names, 5 people ended up losing their money, their flights and their time because the people in charge at Aeroflot gate would not accept to let passengers on the plane 20 minutes prior to its scheduled departure. It took them even more time to remove their bags and the rest of the passengers ended up flying delayed because of this. I don't understand what they could possibly have against these passengers in order for them to be so strict, rude and inhumane enough to let them miss their flights back home, when they only had 1 day left only on their visas and all of them had work and family to get home to. This is the first time in my life that I witness such coldness, harshness, and lack of logic from the part of an airline. If I had the choice, i would never ever in my life fly with this airline ever again!!! I ended up getting on the plane because I had arrived 60 seconds before my friends did, who did not end up getting on the plane, even though the plane's door was open and I was personally speaking to the captain in order to allow them to get on the plane, but the Aeroflot team was simply decided and stubborn and simply would not let the passengers in, I was baffled by their insensitivity and lack of logic and reason! On another note, this airline's food in uneatable, and I mean it, note that I always eat airplane food, I'm not one of those snobs, but this airline's food is REALLY uneatable, I mean the meat was chewy and in bad taste on the way to Moscow, and the chicken was brown and tasteless on the way back.
2. I purchased an item, namely a USB charging cable for iPhone 8 (2M) from the BMS vending machine (KHIMKI RU) in Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow and the item fell and rebounded and got stuck in another row (next to big balls). I tried to call the assistance numbers listed on the machine more than 20 times. Once a man picked up, said he was coming and never ended up coming (I waited 40 minutes and almost missed my flight because of this inconvenience). The rest of the times, no one responded, I assumed the people in charge of this were doing it on purpose either in order to STEAL the item later on (once I gave up my efforts to retrieve it) or out of laziness or a combination of both. In any way, I found this to be extremely frustrating, unprofessional and unacceptable, I contacted the lost and found contact of the airport (as that was the only info I could get) and asked for a COMPLETE refund as well as a complimentary gift card or the equivalent but of course I haven't received anything so far...
3. The airport people are lazy (but that's Russians in general) and there are too many security checks for bags (which of course we have to put ourselves each time in the moving belt).
4. The different duty free shops would simply tell you that IQOS heet cigarettes were not available, but would not help you find them in other shops (I had to ask the shops one by one until I finally found the shop...