Weather-related power outages around Moscow threatened the operations Monday of Russia's busiest airport, which already experienced historic disruptions one week ago, news reports said.

Domodedovo airport, which handles a daily average of more than 55,000 travellers, was forced to start using a backup electric substation amid service disruptions that affected some 80 villages around Moscow, Interfax reported.

A special unit from Russia's emergencies ministry was dispatched to the airport to ensure that the lights stayed on and regular operations continued, ITAR-TASS said.

The southeastern Moscow airport was not experiencing any unusual disruptions as of Monday morning, news reports said.

Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports were forced to cancel hundreds of flights between December 26 and 28 when unseasonably warm weather produced freezing rain showers that downed trees and power lines around the city.

Periodic outages have continued since that weekend, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordering three top official to spend New Year's Eve with affected residents as punishment for failing to resolve the problem on time.