Aeroflot

Aeroflot - Russian Airlines (Russian: Аэрофло́т - Росси́йские авиали́нии, Aeroflot - Rossiyskiye avialinii) or Aeroflot (Russian: Аэрофлот, " Air Fleet") is the flag carrier of the Russian Federation and the largest in the country. It operates passenger and cargo services to national and international destinations, mainly from its hub at the Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Tupolev Tu-104 by Aeroflot landing at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in 1968

Aeroflot is one of the world's oldest airlines, founded in 1923 as a wholly state-owned company. In its time it was also the most important airline in the Soviet Union and the largest in the world. After the dissolution of the USSR, the company changed from being a state company into a semi-private company, with a majority stake (51 %) of the Russian government. As of September 2013, the Aeroflot Group had 30,328 employees.

The company has embarked on a fleet modernization program, extensive route restructuring and a makeover. The airline joined SkyTeam in April 2006, becoming the alliance's tenth member.

As of March 2020, the Government of Russia owns 51% of Aeroflot through the Federal Agency for State Property Management, with the rest of the shares being free float. As of March 2022 SkyTeam and Aeroflot have agreed to temporarily suspend the airline's membership, one of many corporate responses to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

History

In 1921, shortly before the end of the Russian Civil War, the new government established the Civil Air Fleet Administration Department in European Russia; who oversaw a new air project. One of his first functions was the grant of the Deutsch-Russische Luftverkehrs A.G (Deruluft); airline that was in charge of the routes between Germany and Russia.

On February 25, 1932, all civil aviation activities were grouped under the name of the Main Directorate of Civil Aviation (Главное управление Гражданского воздушного флота ГУ ГВФ) which was summarized under the initials of Aeroflot. In 1937 commercial flights would begin; which Deruluft was in charge of before.

By the late 1930s it became the world's largest airline with more than 64,000 employees and operating around 3,000 aircraft.

On September 15, 1956, it became the first airline to regularly use jet aircraft, with the Tupolev Tu-104.

In January 1971, it became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Starting in the 1970s, transatlantic flights stopped at Shannon Airport; as it was the westernmost non-NATO airport in Europe.

On September 15, 1983, the license that allowed him to fly to the United States was withdrawn; which was returned to him on August 2, 1990. The reason for the withdrawal was the accident of Korean Air Flight 007 allegedly shot down by Soviet military aircraft during the Cold War.

The logo of Aeroflot's "hoz and hammer".

In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Aeroflot was divided into more than 300 regional airlines; and international flights were operated by Russian International Airlines (ARIA). In 1994 the airline became a public limited company and 49% of the shares were sold to employees. A renewal of the fleet was also carried out.

There were plans to replace the old Soviet-era hammer and sickle logo, which some people in the West saw as a reminder of Soviet communism. However, as for more than 70 years it was the most recognizable symbol of the company, the logo was retained.

In 2011, Aeroflot acquired the aviation assets of the State Corporation of "Rostekhnologii", which include five airlines. Also, according to its plans, the airline plans to occupy 27% of the transport market in Russia in 2011 and in 2025, 45.4% of the market.

Destinations

Its hub is at the Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport. From there it operates to Europe, America and Asia.

Codeshare flights

Aeroflot has been a member of the Skyteam alliance since 2004, and since then has codeshare flights with other airlines in the alliance:

• Airlines Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• Alitalia
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• China Southern Airlines
• Czech Airlines
• Delta
• Garuda
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Airlines
• LATAM

It also carries out these flights with its subsidiaries (Donavia and Nordavia) and with other airlines:

• airBaltic
• Air Serbia
• Bulgaria Air
• LOT Polish Airlines
• MIAT Mongolian Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Estonian Air
• Rossiya
• Air Malta
• Adria Airways
• Cyprus Airways
• Finnair
• Belavia
• Air India
• Cubana de Aviación
• Emirates
• Iran Air

Fleet

Current Fleet

Since 1994, old Russian-made aircraft have been replaced by modern aircraft. Today, most of the fleet is from Airbus, although we also find several Boeing. The Superjet 100 are the only Russian-made units, and are intended for connections with Asia and Russia/Eastern Europe respectively.

It currently has the following aircraft (November 2022):

Aeroflot

Aircraft	Fleet	Orders	Butacas			Notes
			B	E	Total
Irkut MC-21-300	-	260	TBA
Airbus A320-214	52	1	20/8	120/150	140/158
Airbus A320-251N	6	-
Airbus A321-211	32	-	28	142	170
Airbus A321-251NX	3	-
Airbus A330-343X	12	-	34	268	302	VQ-BCQ painted SkyTeam Colors
Airbus A350-941	7	13	28	288	316
Boeing 737-800	37	2	20	138	158
Boeing 737-900ER	-	10	TBA
Boeing 777-3M0ER	22	-
Superjet 100-95B	4	89	12	75	87	RA-89005 painted SkyTeam Colors
Tupolev Tu-214	-	40	TBA
Total	175	465

As of November 2022, the Airline's fleet has an average age of: 6.8 years.

In the coming years, it intends to increase its fleet with the incorporation of newly manufactured aircraft, such as the Airbus A350 and the Irkut MC-21.

Historical Fleet

Aeroflot historical fleet

Airplane	Total	Introduced	Withdrawal	Notes
Airbus A310-300	14	1992	2006	One of these accidents on flight 593.
Airbus A319-100	15	2003	2016
Airbus A330-200	5	2008	2021
Antonov 124	3	1993	2002
Boeing 737-400	10	1998	2004
Boeing 767-300	13	1994	2014
Boeing 777-200	2	1998	2005
Ilyushin 96	10	1993	2014
McDonnell Douglas DC-10	3	2002	2006
McDonnell Douglas MD-11	3	2009	2015
Tupolev 134	1	1976	1997
Tupolev 204	3	1995	1997
Yakovlev Yak-42	1	1992	1995

Aircraft accidents

Aeroflot has recorded a total of 731 accidents, with a total of 8,231 fatalities, making it the airline with the most deaths and accidents in aviation history, having approximately five times more accidents than any other airline. From 1994 (flight 593) to 2019 it had no accidents, until on May 5, 2019, 41 people died when Aeroflot flight 1492 caught fire. These data do not include accidents at affiliates (such as Aeroflot-Nord and Aeroflot Flight 821 belonging to it).

Other significant accidents include:

• Flight 2230 from Aeroflot: 16 November 1967, 107 dead.
• Colisión en el aire de Yukhnov de 1969 (Vuelo 831 de Aeroflot): 120 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 244: October 15, 1970, was the first successful aerial hijacking in the history of Soviet civil aviation. 1 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 1912: July 25, 1971, 97 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 1491: 18 May 1972, 122 killed.
• Aeroflot Flight 558: 31 August 1972, 102 killed.
• Aeroflot Flight 1036: October 1, 1972, 109 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 217: 13 October 1972, 174 dead. At the time it was the worst air accident ever.
• Aeroflot Flight 3932: September 30, 1973, 108 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 964: 13 October 1973, 122 dead.
• The Accident of an Aeroflot Il-18 in Leningrad in 1974: 109 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 909: March 6, 1976, 111 killed.
• Aeroflot Flight 3843: January 13, 1977, 90 dead.
• Aerial collision in Dniprodzerzhynsk of 1979: 11 August 1979, an error of an air controller causes two Tupolev Tu-134AK aircraft from Aeroflot to crash in the air. 178 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 4225: 8 July 1980, 166 killed.
• Aeroflot Flight 3603: November 17, 1981, 99 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 8641: 28 June 1982, 132 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 3352: 11 October 1984, while landing on the plane crashed into the airway maintenance vehicles, killing 174 people on board and 4 on land. A chain of errors in airport operations contributed to the accident, with its main cause being an air controller that fell asleep in service.
• Aeroflot Flight 3519: December 23, 1984, 110 dead and 29-year-old survivor.
• Aeroflot Flight 7425: July 10, 1985, is the accident with the largest number of victims (200) occurred when a Tupolev Tu-154 covering the Taskent-Saint Petersburg route crashed into Uzbekistan due to a pilot error.
• Flight 505 from Aeroflot: January 16, 1987, accident caused by a strong turbulence caused by the wake of a plane that had happened shortly before. 9 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 528: June 19, 1987, track departure caused by a failed attempt to land in bad weather. 8 dead.
• Flight 3739 of Aeroflot: 8 March 1988, an aircraft is hijacked, ends in a Russian military base and was assaulted by military personnel. 9 dead, including the 5 kidnappers.
• Aeroflot Flight 2808: August 27, 1992, while attempting to land, crashed into a group of buildings. 84 dead.
• Aeroflot Flight 593: March 23, 1994, Aeroflot Airbus A310 crashed in Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo Opblast, Russia, killing 75 people on board, after the pilot left his son to take commands, causing a partial disconnection of the autopilot.
• On 21 September 2001, Ilyushin Il-86 (RA-86074) landed at Dubai airport due to a pilot error; 322 passengers and crew survived, but the plane was cancelled. The aircraft operated an international passenger service scheduled between Moscow and Dubai as the flight 521.
• On 30 June 2008, the Tupolev Tu-154 M (RA-85667) suffered an uncontainable engine failure by taking off from Pulkovo airport on the road to Moscow; the 112 passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was cancelled and stationed at Pulkovo airport, where it dismantled in August 2009. This accident led Aeroflot to withdraw the Tu-154 service from the end of 2008 and completely withdrew. all Tu-154 in 2010 and replaced them with Airbus A320 family planes.
• On 14 September 2008, Aeroflot Flight 821 operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot as its subsidiary, crashed in the approach to Perm Airport, Russia, due to a pilot error. The 88 people on board, including 6 crew members and 82 passengers, died in the accident.
• On 3 June 2009, the Boeing 737-500 (VP-BXM) suffered severe damage from a grenade as it approached Simferopol on the road from Moscow. The aircraft was cancelled and stored in Simferopol (without the engines) where it was last seen in August 2011.
• On June 3, 2014, Ilyushin Il-96 RA-96010 was damaged beyond economic repair in a fire while stationed at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow.
• On January 3, 2017, Airbus A321 VP-BES invaded the track when landing at Khrabrovo Airport, which caused the collapse of the nose armor; the aircraft, which operated a Moscow-Kalininggrad service as a Flight 1008He suffered minor damage.
• Aeroflot Flight 1492: May 5, 2019, at least 41 people lost their lives when they were affected to an emergency landing of one of the Aeroflot fleet planes, specifically a Sukhoi Superjet 100. The plane made a first landing, which was failed. In its second attempt, the fuselage of the aircraft hit the track strongly, causing a serious fire.