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Aeroflot

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Aeroflot Logo
Aeroflot Logo
Aeroflot Airbus A319 at Berlin

Aeroflot — Russian Airlines (Russian:Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии), or Aeroflot (Аэрофло́т), is the Russian national airline and is the biggest carrier in Russia. It was also the national airline of the Soviet Union and the largest airline in the world. It is based in Sheremetyevo International Airport located near Moscow, Russia. As of 2004, Aeroflot flies to 88 foreign destinations in 42 countries; it carried 5.9 million passengers in 2003.

History

The company was founded in 1923 under the name Dobroflot and was reorganized under the name Aeroflot in 1932. International flights started in 1937, before that date they had been carried out by a joint Soviet-German airline Deruluft.

Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-96

During the Soviet era Aeroflot was a synonym for Russian civil aviation. One of the rare examples of Soviet commercial advertisement was Aeroflot slogan: "Fly on Aeroflot planes!" ("Летайте самолетами Аэрофлота!"). The paradox was that Aeroflot had no competitors and it was virtually impossible for an average Soviet citizen to fly on a non-Aeroflot plane.

The airline grew into what was considered by the World Almanac as the world's largest airline company. In 1976 Aeroflot carried more then 100 million passengers for the first time. Its flights were mainly concentrating around the Soviet Union, but the airline also had an international network covering five continents: North and South Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The network included countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, and People's Republic of China. Since the 1970s some transatlantic flights were flown using Shannon Airport in Ireland as a hub, 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, 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 equivelent of Air Force One and other vip/vvip transports of government and communist party officials.

Aeroflot joined IATA in 1989.

At the start of the 1990s Aeroflot was divided into hundreds of new airlines. The biggest one was the Moscow-based subsidiary responsible for international flights, which possessed the brand (Aeroflot - Soviet International Airlines). Some airline companies which were created from the old Aeroflot are now flag carriers of the newly independent countries of the CIS — e.g., Ukraine International Airlines. Smaller regional airlines which emerged out of the old Aeroflot — sometimes just one-plane operations — are sometimes referred to as Babyflots.

Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154M

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the decision was made to reorganize Aeroflot as an open joint stock company (the company was created in 1994 under the name Aeroflot — Russian International Airlines). The Russian government still owns 51% of the airline.

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.

The transition period severely damaged the safety record of the company. There was a number of accidents at the start of the 1990s. The last one was in 1994, when an A310 crashed near Mezhdurechensk, Russia killing 75 people on board. It happened after a captain allowed his 15 year-old son to manipulate the controls of the plane while a co-pilot was not able to reach the controls properly.

Nevertheless, Aeroflot managed to improve itself dramatically in a short period of time and the airline's safe flights rate is currently 99.94 percent.

The company used to be severely criticized for its bad service, especially in the first half of 1990s. Although service has improved since then, the hardest part was to train attendants to deliver it with a smile. In the mid-1990s the company even had an advertisement slogan: "We don't smile, because we're serious about making you happy".

Fleet history

During the Soviet era all Soviet civil aircrafts were built for Aeroflot.

During 1940s and the first half of 1950s the base plane for Aeroflot fleet was licensed version of Douglas DC-3. Soviet-made modifications were named PS-24 and Lisunov Li-2. Fist planes were produced in Soviet Union in 1939.

Later Li-2 were replaced by Ilyushin Il-12 (entered service in 1947) and Ilyushin Il-14 (in service since 1954) aiplanes.

On September 15 1956 Aeroflot started to operate Tupolev Tu-104 - the USSR's first jet airliner in regular service. The first flight with passengers was from Moscow to Irkutsk, Russia. The first international route served by Tu-104 was Moscow - Prague, Czech Republic.

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 longest non-stop route of the airline at that time.

In 1962 Aeroflot started regular flights on Tupolev Tu-124 - the smaller version of Tu-104 for regional routes. These planes were later replaced by Tupolev Tu-134 (in service since 1967). Today most of the Russian regional planes are the latest modifications of Tu-134.

In 1972 the first Tupolev Tu-154 began regular flights. This jet airplane is probably the most popular Russian airliner (more than 1000 of these were build in total). The latest modification Tu-154M is still in service. These airplanes 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). Tu-144 had officially carried 55 regular flights before it was suspended from passenger service in 1978.

In 1980 the Ilyushin Il-86 - the first Russian-made wide-body plane -joined the fleet. Eleven planes are still in use for charter flights.

In 1993 Aeroflot started to operate the Ilyushin Il-96-300 airplanes on its route Moscow-New York.

The first western-made aircraft (the Airbus A310) was acquired in 1992. The company also became a Boeing customer, adding new Boeing 767 jet planes in 1994. Since then Aeroflot has also operated Boeing 737s, Boeing 777s, Airbus A320 family and the cargo version of the Douglas DC-10s.

Recent developments

For a while now Aeroflot has been struggling to redefine itself as a safe and reliable airline. It hired British consultants for rebranding in the beginning of the 2000s. A new livery and uniforms for flight attendants were designed and a promotional campaign launched in 2003. The service has also improved noticeably.

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 an uncomfortable reminder of the old Soviet era. A customer survey showed that this is the most recognizable symbol of the company and it was decided to keep it.

Aeroflot also recently upgraded its fleet of western-build aircrafts. Now it has the total of 18 A320/A319 jet planes for short-haul flights in Europe and 9 Boeing 767 planes for long-haul routes. The total number of planes is 93.

In spring of 2004 the airline started an aggressive expansion on the domestic market aiming to gain 30% share by 2010 (currently it holds approximately 9%). The first task is to outperform one of its major rivals Siberia Airlines, the current leader in Russian domestic market.

On July 29 2004 the company adopted new corporate slogan "Sincerely Yours. Aeroflot".

Aeroflot recently made a decision to join SkyTeam (another option was entry into Star Alliance). On May 24, 2004 Air France CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta travelled to Moscow to sign a Memorandum of Understanding paving the way for Aeroflot's entry into SkyTeam in 2005.

Current fleet

Aeroflot operates mixed fleet of Russian and Western airplanes:

Some of the Russian-made planes (e.g. Tu-134s) do not comply with ICAO Chicago Convention Annex 16 Chapter III specifications due to high noise emission. As of 1 April 2002 these planes could not be use on flights to Europe and North America.

Aeroflot Western-made fleet is relatively young, whereas most of the Russian jets (except for Il-96s) are due to retire between 2005 and 2008.

Other facts of interest

Destinations

Africa

Asia

Commonwealth of Independent States(C.I.S.)

Europe

Russia

North America

IATA Code

Aeroflot uses the IATA designator code SU.

ICAO Code

Aeroflot uses the ICAO designator code AFL.

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