Wading for take off! Siberian weather extremes strike at airport where passengers have to PADDLE to board their plane

  • Passengers in Krasnoyarsk forced to squelch through ankle-deep water
  • A severe flash flood left Yemelyanovo Airport resembling a lake
  • Footage of them was shot by passenger Maxim Galochkin on his phone

By Will Stewart In Russia For Mailonline

Published: 08:00 EST, 8 July 2015 | Updated: 08:11 EST, 8 July 2015

When the weather strikes in Siberia, you certainly know about it. 

These long-suffering passengers were forced to squelch through ankle-deep water to board their plane from Krasnoyarsk's Yemelyanovo Airport, 2,100 miles east of Moscow. 

When the bus left the terminal, everything was dry, but a sudden downpour left the airport resembling a giant lake. 

Passengers travelling on a Nordstar Airlines flight were forced to wade through almost knee deep water

Passengers travelling on a Nordstar Airlines flight were forced to wade through almost knee deep water

Safety rules meant the bus could not drop the passengers at the foot of the Nord Star airline's plane stairs. 

'Passengers were offered the choice to wade to fly or wait to fly later,' reported The Siberian Times. 

They opted en masse to paddle to the plane rather than risk the flight being delayed. 

The footage was shot by passenger Maxim Galochkin as he prepared to board through the flood, and showed the bus stopping some distance away from the plane at Emelyanovo Airport in the central Russian city of Krasnoyarsk.

Passengers were offered the choice to wade to fly or wait to fly later, and they voted with their feet

Passengers were offered the choice to wade to fly or wait to fly later, and they voted with their feet

The runway soon resembled a giant lake, one of the passengers reported

The runway soon resembled a giant lake, one of the passengers reported

The video quickly went viral, prompting local media to contact the airport for a statement. They confirmed that the water on the runway was caused by a sudden and unexpected storm.

An airport spokesman said, 'When the passengers were brought to the aircraft, the bus parked as close as possible - to the extent allowed by the security. 

'The bus driver was only doing his job and it's unfortunate that the was so much water on the runway. For a while the passengers waited in the bus hoping the rain would stop.'

Hopefully the bedraggled passengers were offered towels to dry off when finally on board.

Siberia has suffered extremes of weather in recent days with Saudi-like heat in some areas followed by raging storms, and snow in other regions. 

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