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After landing in Alma-Ata, passengers were kept in the cabin for 25 minutes while the plane was towed back and forth by ground crews attempting to align it with the exit ramp. The 30-mile return bus trip from Moscow's Domodedovo airport to the central part of the city took two hours in rush-hour traffic—exactly the time it took to fly to Alma-Ata.
The Soviets seem to be sensitive to the noise and other potential environmental problems caused by supersonic transport. The Concordski takes off from an airport located in an isolated birch wood, and the air route to Alma-Ata deliberately covers sparsely populated areas. But even if authorities should decide to extend supersonic service to other parts of the Soviet Union, they need hardly fear the kind of traffic stall-ins staged by New York City residents to protest the arrival of the Concorde. In the Soviet Union, all such demonstrations of popular protest are strictly prohibited.