Polar Airlines

State Unitary Enterprise "Aircompany "Polar Airlines"
ГУП «Авиакомпания «Полярные авиалинии»
Founded	1997; 27 years ago
Operating bases	Yakutsk Airport
Fleet size	56
Destinations	20
Parent company	Government owned
Headquarters	Yakutsk, Russia
Key people	Andrei Vasiliyevich Koryakin (General Director)
Website	https://polar.aero/

Polar Airlines (Russian: Полярные авиалинии, Poljarnýe avialinii) is an airline based in Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia. It operates scheduled and charter passenger and cargo services.^[2] In 2022, it became part of Russia's single far-eastern airline, along with four other airlines.^[3]^[4]

History

The airline began operations in 1997. It was formed from the Batagai, Kolyma-Indigirka, Chukordakh and Tiksi sub-divisions of Aeroflot.^[2]

Polar Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations (as of January 2013):^[5]

May 16, 2003: Antonov An-3T RA-05881 force-landed 28 mi from Sangara due to engine failure caused by bad weather; all 13 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.^[6]
November 18, 2005: Antonov An-2TP RA-02252 crashed on a mountain 19 mi from Sangar in bad weather; all 12 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.^[7]
November 21, 2012: Flight 227 (performed by Antonov An-26 RA-26061) from Yakutsk to Deputatsky overshot the runway on landing by 70 metres. The airline reported an icy runway as the cause. The plane received substantial damage^[8] but no injuries were reported.^[9]
July 2, 2013: Flight 9949, a Mil Mi-8 (registration RA-22657) crashed into a hill top 66 km from Deputatsky in the Sakha Republic. 19 of the 25 passengers and 3 crew were killed; of these deaths, several children were involved. 11 of the 25 passengers were children. A post-crash fire consumed the aircraft.^[10]^[11]This was the first fatal accident for the airline.
August 16, 2013: Flight 9977, an Antonov An-2TP (registration RA-01419), made a forced landing near Vilyuisk following an unexplained engine problem; all 11 on board survived, but the aircraft was destroyed by a post-crash fire.^[12]
October 11, 2016: Flight 203, an Antonov An-26 RA-26660 landed short of the runway at Belaya Gora Airport. The aircraft was severely damaged. All 33 people on board survived.^[13]

As of July 2012 the Polar Airlines fleet includes:^[1]^[14]

^ ^a ^b ^c Federal State Unitary Enterprise "State Air Traffic Management Corporation", Airline Reference, Vol. 1, Russian Federation, 27 April 2007, p. 351
^ ^a ^b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 64.
^ "О компании - «ЧукотАвиа»". chukotavia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
^ "Авиакомпании Дальнего Востока перейдут на единый бренд". РБК (in Russian). 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
^ "Карта полетов". Полярные Авиалинии. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ Accident description for RA-05881 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2 July 2013.
^ Accident description for RA-02252 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2 July 2013.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Accident: Polar AN26 at Deputatsky on Nov 21st 2012, overran runway". avherald.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ "Children die in air crash in Russia's Sakha Republic". BBC News. 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ "19 people die in Russian helicopter crash: official". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ Accident description for RA-041419 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2015-3-27.
^ "ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-26-100 RA-26660 Belaya Gora Airport (BGN)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
^ Polar Airlines fleet