Booking System Outage in Russia: Flight Cancellations and Delays

Photo: RBC

Problems caused by an outage in the Leonardo booking system (Sirena-Travel) emerged on January 26 for Russian airlines and Belarusian carrier Belavia. The restrictions affected passenger and baggage check-in, as well as ticket issuance, exchanges and refunds, reports RBC. Airports warned of possible flight delays and schedule adjustments.

Flight cancellations and manual check-in

Aeroflot and its subsidiary Rossiya cancelled more than 20 flights from Moscow to Saratov, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Samara, Sochi and Yekaterinburg, as well as several flights to St. Petersburg. International destinations affected included Minsk and Yerevan. More than ten additional flights were delayed, writes Interfax. Additional services and ticket operations were temporarily unavailable across all sales channels.

Similar problems were confirmed by Pobeda, Azur Air and Yamal. Restrictions were also recorded[/leech
] at Belarusian carrier Belavia. At the same time, S7 Airlines said ticket sales and passenger check-in were proceeding [leech=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/1069521]as usual, since the carrier uses a different Russian system — ORS.

Airports in Sochi and St. Petersburg switched to manual operations and warned of possible longer processing times. According to Sheremetyevo’s online departure board, from 4:00 pm until the end of January 26, 33 flights were cancelled, while 20 were delayed at Vnukovo. At Domodedovo, schedules were changed in seven cases, and at Zhukovsky in two. The Association of Tour Operators estimates that around 20,000 passengers were affected by the incident.

Causes of the outage

Izhevsk-based airline Izhavia CEO Alexander Sinelnikov reported failures in the Astra check-in system and the Sirena sales mechanism, which are used by carriers and developed by Sirena-Travel jointly with RT — Project Technologies of state corporation Rostec.

Rostec said the disruptions were caused by failures in network infrastructure. An оперативный штаб was set up to restore the system’s operations.

Russia’s Ministry of Transport said it had stepped up monitoring of domestic air transport together with Rosaviatsiya. Specialists from both agencies, along with airlines and airports, are working to minimise the impact of the difficulties.

Advice for passengers

Dmitry Gorin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, noted that when booking tickets it is important to provide accurate contact details — an email address and phone number — as updates will be sent through these channels. He also reminded that passengers are entitled to ticket refunds in the event of significant delays or cancellations, although this option is currently suspended until technical issues are resolved.

Impact on the travel industry

Previously, in 2023, an outage in the Leonardo system had already caused widespread problems with airport check-in. At the time, Rostec said the system had been hit by a large-scale DDoS attack from abroad, affecting all airlines using the platform.

Analysts at International Investment note that flight delays and cancellations have become a frequent occurrence at Moscow airports. Terminal operations are impacted by technical outages, natural disasters, as well as airspace restrictions and drone attacks.. Many passengers increasingly choose departures from regional airports to reduce the risk of schedule disruptions. Overall, these trends are having a negative impact on the air travel market and the travel industry.