Aeroflot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aeroflot - Russian Airlines
IATA SU	ICAO AFL	Callsign Aeroflot
Founded		1932
Hubs		Sheremetyevo Int'l Airport
Frequent flyer program		Aeroflot Bonus
Member lounge		First Class Lounge (no member lounges)
Alliance		SkyTeam
Fleet size		90
Destinations		93
Headquarters		Moscow, Russia
Key people		Valery Okulov (CEO), Viktor Ivanov (Chairman of the Board of Directors)
Website: http://www.aeroflot.com

Aeroflot — Russian Airlines (Russian:Аэрофлот — Российские авиалинии), Aeroflot — Rossijskie Avialinii, or Aeroflot (Аэрофлот; literally "air fleet"), is the Russian national airline and the biggest carrier in Russia.

It is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance. It was also the national airline of the Soviet Union and was once the largest airline in the world. It is based in Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, with corporate headquarters next to Aerostar Hotel, central Moscow. As of March 2007, Aeroflot serves 93 destinations in 47 countries and performs 302 flights each day.

Contents 1 History 2 Recent developments 3 Destinations 4 Fleet 4.1 Passenger 4.2 Cargo 4.3 Retired fleet 4.4 Fleet expansion 5 Aeroflot Bonus 6 Incidents and accidents 7 Trivia 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

In 1921, shortly after the end of the Russian Civil War, the new government established the Chief Administration of the Civil Air Fleet to oversee new air transport projects. One of its first acts was to help found Deutsch-Russische Luftverkehrs (Deruluft), a joint German-Russian venture to provide air transport from Russia to the West. Domestic air service began around the same time, when the Dobrolyot society was established on 9 February 1923. It started operations on 15 July 1923 between Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod. In 1932 all civil aviation activities were consolidated under the name of Grazhdanskiy Vozdushnyy Flot (Civil Air Fleet), known simply as Aeroflot. International flights started in 1937; before that date they had been carried out by Deruluft. By the end of the 1930s Aeroflot had become the world's largest airline.

During the Soviet era Aeroflot was synonymous with Russian civil aviation. One of the rare examples of Soviet commercial advertisement was Aeroflot's slogan, "Fly on the planes of Aeroflot!"("Летайте самолетами Аэрофлота!"). The irony was that Aeroflot had no competitors and it was virtually impossible for an average Soviet citizen to fly on a non-Aeroflot plane. The advertisement was intended to entice people into using Aeroflot instead of cheaper though much slower long-distance trains.

In January 1971 the Aeroflot Central Administration of International Air Traffic was established within the framework of IATA, and became the industry's sole enterprise authorised to operate international flights. Abroad, the airline was known as Aeroflot Soviet Airlines. In 1976 Aeroflot carried its 100 millionth passenger. Its flights were mainly concentrated around the Soviet Union, but the airline also had an international network covering five continents: North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The network included countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and People's Republic of China. Since the 1970s some transatlantic flights were flown using Shannon Airport in Ireland as an intermediate stop, as it was the westernmost non-NATO airport in Europe.

Aeroflot also performed myriad other functions, it provided Aeromedical, crop-dusting, heavy lifting for the Soviet Space Agency (see Soviet Space Program), offshore oil platform support, exploration for natural resources, support for construction projects, transport of military troops and supplies (as an adjunct to the Soviet Air Force), atmospheric research, remote area patrol, but to name a few. It operated hundreds of helicopters and cargo aircraft in addition to civil airliners. It also operated the Soviet equivalent of Air Force One and other VIP transports of government and communist party officials. Aeroflot joined IATA in 1989.

Aeroflot service to and from the United States was interrupted from September 15, 1983 until August 2, 1990 following an executive order by U.S. President Ronald Reagan revoking Aeroflot's license to operate flights into and out of the United States. (See Korean Air Flight 007 for more information).

At the start of the 1990s Aeroflot reorganised again giving more autonomy to territorial divisions. In 1992 it was divided into more than 500 regional airlines. International routes were operated separately as Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines (ARIA). Some airline companies which were created from the old Aeroflot are now flag carriers of the newly independent countries of the CIS — e.g., Uzbekistan Airways. Smaller regional airlines which emerged out of the old Aeroflot — sometimes just one-plane operations — were sometimes referred to as Babyflots.

In 1994 Aeroflot was registered as a joint stock company and the government sold off 49% of its stake to Aeroflot employees. During the 1990s Aeroflot was primarily focused on international flights from Moscow. However, by the end of the decade Aeroflot started an expansion in the domestic market. In 2000 the company name was changed to Aeroflot — Russian Airlines to reflect the change in the company's strategy.

[edit] Recent developments

Aeroflot has been working towards redefining itself as a safe and reliable airline, hiring British consultants for rebranding at the beginning of the 2000s. A new livery and uniforms for flight attendants were designed and a promotional campaign launched in 2003.

Plans were afoot to get rid of the old Soviet-era logo complete with hammer and sickle, which some people in the West treat as a reminder of the old Soviet era. However, a customer survey showed that this was the most recognizable symbol of the company, and it was decided to keep it.

Aeroflot has also upgraded its fleet of western-built aircraft. It has a total of 24 A320/A319 jet planes for short-haul flights in Europe and 11 Boeing 767 planes for long-haul routes. The total number of planes is 93. It carried 5.9 million passengers in 2003.

In the spring of 2004 the airline started an aggressive expansion on the domestic market aiming to gain 30% share by 2010 (as of 2006 it holds approximately 9%). The first task was to outperform one of its major rivals S7 Airlines, the leader in the Russian domestic market. On July 29, 2004 the company adopted a new corporate slogan: "Sincerely Yours. Aeroflot".

On April 14 2006 Aeroflot became the first air carrier in the former Soviet Union to join a global alliance (SkyTeam; another option was entry into Star Alliance). The airline will also get its own terminal at Sheremetyevo International Airport known as Sheremetyevo terminal 3 which will be finished by November 2007.

The company has announced its plan to increase cargo operations. It registered the "Aeroflot Cargo" trademark in 2004. There is also a plan to replace the cargo fleet of four DC-10s with six MD-11s starting in late 2007.

The airline is owned (as of January 2005) by the Russian Government (51.17%), National Reserve Corporation (27%) and employees and others (19%). It has 14,714 employees.

In 2006 Aeroflot carried 7,290,000 passengers and 145,300 tons of mail and cargo [1], [2] to 89 destinations in 47 countries.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Aeroflot destinations

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Passenger

The Aeroflot fleet includes the following aircraft as of March 2007: ^[1][2]

Aeroflot Russian Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Business*/Economy)	Notes
Airbus A319-100	8 (3 orders)	116 (20/96)	Orders to be delivered in 2007
Airbus A320-200	12 (11 orders)	140 (20/120)	Orders to be delivered in 2008
Airbus A321-200	7 (3 orders)	170 (28/142)	Orders to be delivered in 2007
Airbus A330-200	(10 orders)		2 will be delivered in 2008, 5 in 2009 and 3 in 2010
Airbus A350	(22 orders)		Deliveries will be in 2014-2017.
Boeing 767-300ER	11	214 (30/184) 218 (30/188) 226 (30/196)
Ilyushin Il-96-300	6 (6 orders)	231 (22/209)
Sukhoi Superjet 100	(30 orders)		Launch Customer
Tupolev Tu-134-A and -B	14	68 (8/60)	To be phased out by January 1, 2008
Tupolev Tu-154-M and -B	28	126 (24/102)	To be phased out by 2010

^{* Business Class is not offered on some short-haul routes select and long haul flights.}

Aeroflot's Western-made fleet is young, whereas most of the Russian jets (except for Il-96s) are due to retire between 2008 and 2010. Aeroflot used to operate but later returned their 737s, A310s, and 777s.

The Aeroflot average Airbus, Boeing and Douglas fleet age is 6.7 years in February 2007.

[edit] Cargo

The Aeroflot Cargo fleet consists of the following aircraft as of August 2006:

Aeroflot Cargo Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Notes
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40F	4

[edit] Retired fleet

During the Soviet era, almost all of Aeroflot's airliners were built by Soviet aircraft manufacturers. Virtually all civilian aircraft (and also some military) flying in the Soviet Union were considered as Aeroflot planes. This meant that Aeroflot was the airline with most planes in its fleet, since everything from small planes used to cropdusting fields to Ilyushin 62 with over 200 seats wore the Aeroflot brand.

During the 1940s and the early 1950s, the main aircraft of the Aeroflot fleet was a licensed version of the Douglas DC-3. Soviet-made, modified versions of this airliner were named the PS-84 and the Lisunov Li-2. The first such aircraft to be produced in the Soviet Union was completed in 1939.

Later, the Li-2 aircraft were replaced by the Ilyushin Il-12 (which entered service in 1947) and the Ilyushin Il-14 (which entered service in 1954). Aeroflot also operated large numbers of the Antonov An-2 STOL bi-plane (first flying in 1947), in both passenger and cargo roles. The An-2 remained in Aeroflot service until the 1980s.

On September 15, 1956 Aeroflot began to operate Tupolev Tu-104s, the USSR's first jet airliner in regular service. The first passenger-carrying flight of this aircraft was from Moscow to Irkutsk, Russia. The first international route served by the Tu-104 was Moscow - Prague, Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia).

The Tupolev Tu-114, originally used to transport Soviet leaders, came into service in 1961 on the Moscow (Vnukovo International Airport) - Khabarovsk, Russia route. It also served international routes such as Moscow - Tokyo, Japan and Moscow - Havana, Cuba, the airline's longest non-stop route at that time.

In 1962 Aeroflot began operating the Tupolev Tu-124, the smaller version of the Tu-104, on regional routes. These aircraft were later replaced by the Tupolev Tu-134, which entered service in 1967. Modern modifications of the Tu-134 still make up much of the Russian regional fleet today.

The first Ilyushin Il-62 long-range four-engined airliner entered service with Aeroflot in 1967, with an inaugural flight from Moscow to Montreal on September 15 of that year.

In 1972 the first Tupolev Tu-154 began regular flights. This jet aircraft is probably the most popular Russian airliner, with over 1000 manufactured. The latest modification, Tu-154M, is still in service. These aircraft serve most of the Russian domestic flights.

On November 1, 1977 Aeroflot started to use the Tupolev Tu-144, the world's first civil supersonic aircraft, on its regular route from Moscow (Domodedovo International Airport) to Alma-Ata (now Almaty, Kazakhstan). The Tu-144 was suspended from passenger service in 1978, having officially made a total of 55 regular flights.

In 1980 the Ilyushin Il-86, the first Russian-made wide-body aeroplane, joined the fleet, reaching a total of 11 aircraft. These were phased out by the end of 2006.

The first Western-made aircraft to be used by Aeroflot, the Airbus A310, was acquired in 1992. The company also became a Boeing customer, acquiring new Boeing 767 jet aircraft in 1994. Since then Aeroflot has also operated Boeing 737s, Airbus A320s, and the cargo version of the Douglas DC-10s.

In 1998 Aeroflot leased 2 Boeing 777s. Both of them have already been returned.

[edit] Fleet expansion

In 1993 Aeroflot started to operate the Ilyushin Il-96-300 aircraft on the Moscow - New York route. The company now flies 6 aircraft of the type - about one half of all Il-96s in commercial service worldwide - and promised to buy 6 more if the Russian State allowing it not to pay import duty on Western-built aircraft. Industry experts claim the company is trying to terminate the deal with Ilyushin as operating the Il-96 is not cost-effective.

In 2006 it leased 3 used Boeing 767-300ER from ILFC for 5 years. The first two aircraft were delivered in November 2006 and January 2007, the third one is due in March 2007. The company had previously leased 2 Boeing 767-300ER from ILFC.

As of 2007, Aeroflot is in the midst of an overhaul of its fleet structure. The ageing Tupolev 134s and Tupolev 154s used on the short- and mid-haul routes are being phased out - the former to be replaced by the as-yet-nonexistent Sukhoi Superjet 100 by January, 1, 2008, the latter by Airbus 319/320/321 family by 2010 [3].

For long-haul routes the company has been evaluating the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 as a replacement for the Boeing 767, strongly leaning towards the Dreamliner as it will be ready to fly earlier than its Airbus counterpart. Aeroflot reserved production slots for 22 Boeing 787's to be delivered in 2008-2010.

Matters came to a head in September 2006 as Aeroflot's Board of Directors convened to vote on the Boeing contract. Unfortunately for Boeing, this coincided with the USA imposing sanctions on various Russian companies (including a major aircraft maker, Sukhoi) for allegedly supplying Iran in violation of the US's Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 and with the Russian state-owned Vneshtorgbank buying 5% of the stock in EADS, the corporation behind Airbus. The State's representatives on the board abstained from the vote and another round of lobbying ensued, with various Russian news sources reporting Aeroflot's efforts to placate the State by offering to order both 22 Boeing 787's and 22 Airbus 350's, effectively doubling its long-range fleet. Banker Alexander Lebedev, the man behind National Reserve Corporation, reached a deal with Boeing to prolong the deadline, using his corporation's money [4]. However, the deal ultimately fell through. Lebedev has since threatened to take the State to court, citing damages to Aeroflot to the tune of US$200 mln.

On March 22, 2007, Aeroflot signed a protocol with Airbus for the delivery of 22 Airbus 350-xxx XWB aircraft starting in 2014[5]. Meanwhile, the airline will order 15 Airbus 330s [6]. The first 2 deliveries are due in 2007 [7].

[edit] Aeroflot Bonus

Aeroflot Bonus is Aeroflot's frequent flyer program.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

• The AirDisaster.com Accident Data reports that since 1953 there have been 127 accidents involving Aeroflot aircraft and 6,875 fatalities (plus 20 people killed on the ground), making an average of 54.13 fatalities per accident. However, during the Soviet Union era any aircraft ranging from commercial to crop-field planes were flown under Aeroflot's name. Thus, these numbers reflect the number of crashes to any sort of air vehicle flown in the Soviet Union outside of the Soviet Air Forces. There have been no fatal accidents since 23 March 1994, when an Aeroflot Airbus crashed in Siberia after the pilot allowed his 15-year-old son to take the controls. Since then, Aeroflot has considerably improved its safety record (see "A Face Lift for Down-at-Heel Aeroflot", New York Times, 7 April 2003]).
• On February 27, 2005, an Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154M landed on a taxiway at Barcelona International Airport, Spain, 250m to the right of its cleared runway 25R. (ref: Flight International, July 2005).

[edit] Trivia

• Aeroflot started commercial flights to the United States in 1968. In 1979 these flights were suspended by the U.S. Government in response to the Soviet intervention into Afghanistan. Aeroflot flights were further suspended on December 29, 1981, in response to Soviet actions in Poland [8], and again on September 15, 1983, in response to the Soviet Union's shoot-down of Korean Air Flight 007 over its territory [9]. Aeroflot service to the United States was not restored until April 29, 1986 [10].
• President Vladimir Putin's wife is a former Aeroflot flight attendant. She worked at the Leningrad-based subsidiary of Soviet Aeroflot (Leningrad Avia-Squadron), now Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise.
• Aeroflot pilots were portrayed in 2001 A Space Odyssey
• Aeroflot was portrayed in The Bourne Supremacy.
• Aeroflot is portrayed in a number of Soviet movies. Most notably:
  • "Ekipazh" (Russian: "Экипаж") /1979/ - the first Soviet catastrophe movie
  • "Mimino" (Russian:"Мимино") /1977/
• A Channel Four documentary, Airplaneski!, featured stories about customers and employees of Aeroflot.
• The company is still using the old Soviet logo.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Fleet age
• Fleet
• Passenger Opinions
• Aeroflot News from Airwise News