OREANDA-NEWS. July 01, 2009. The members of SkyTeam international aviation alliance taking part in the Moscow meeting to have an opportunity to personally inspect Aeroflot’s new passenger terminal at the Sheremetyevo airport, which is to become the Russian hub of the alliance, reported the press-centre of Aeroflot.

The construction of the Sheremetyevo 3 terminal is planned to complete in the Q3 2009. The new terminal will take over Aeroflot flights, both international and domestic, as well as the flights of SkyTeam members. The terminal can handle up to 12 million passengers a year, which practically doubles the Sheremetyevo throughput capacity.

Sheremetyevo 3 will be the best passenger terminal in the Eastern Europe. The original architectural solution of the Sheremetyevo 3 project has already won the Russian independent  award in the sphere of architecture and development “ARX Awards” in the “Best Transport Infrastructure Object” nomination.

Sheremetyevo 3 will be Russia’s first full-scale international hub, supported by a base company and the global alliance. For passengers’ convenience, it offers 143 check-In counters, including 24 self-check-in kiosks (CUSS-kiosks) and 30 counters for transit passengers and oversized baggage. To speed-up the baggage handling process and improve security, the new terminal will use the Radio Frequency Identification system for baggage recognition, which will reduce the average time of baggage hadling by 90%.

Passengers will be able to use the 6 enhanced-comfort lounges, 5 children’s rooms, 25 shops, 18 catering establishments working around the clock, and many other services. Aeroflot and SkyTeam are assigned  3 business exclusive business halls in the international and domestic departure zones equipped with comfortable rest areas, shower cabins and other conveniences. The “Valday” VIP launge will, among other features, offer passengers individual DVD players with movies to watch, and a “deep relaxation” zone.