Ural Airlines (Russian: Ура́льские авиали́нии, Ural’skiye avialinii) is an airline based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia,[2] that operates scheduled and chartered domestic and international flights out of Koltsovo International Airport. In 2018, the company transported nine million passengers.

Ural Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
U6 SVR SVERDLOVSK AIR
Founded1943; 81 years ago (1943) (as part of Aeroflot)
Commenced operations1993
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programWings
Fleet size52
Destinations52[1]
HeadquartersYekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia
Key peopleSergei Skuratov (General Director)
Websiteuralairlines.ru

Overview

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The airline was founded in 1943 as Sverdlovsk State Air Enterprises, and later became part of Aeroflot, the Soviet state airline, being in charge of Yekaterinburg Airport. Following the split-up of Aeroflot, Ural Airlines became a joint stock company incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation on 28 December 1993, and the airline business was separated from the airport.

In 2010, Ural Airlines retired all of its Antonov An-24s, Ilyushin Il-86s and Tupolev Tu-154B-2s.[3] The airline's Tupolev Tu-154M, in 164-seat two-class configuration, was retired on October 16, 2011.[4]

Ural Airlines has 3348 employees.[5]

As of 2012, the airline also planned to buy a training complex for the Airbus A330-300.[6]

In 2017, Skytrax gave Ural Airlines three stars, which made it the fourth airline with three stars in Russia and CIS after S7 Airlines, Uzbekistan Airlines and Air Moldova.[7]

Currently, the main hubs of Ural Airlines are Moscow-Domodedovo and Yekaterinburg. Ural Airlines has plans to increase its number of hubs, by developing hubs at Moscow-Sheremetyevo and Moscow-Zhukovsky.[8]

In 2020, flights commenced to Russian-controlled Crimea.

In 2024, Ural Airlines was added to the European Union's sanctions list for transporting military personnel during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[9]

Corporate affairs

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A former Ural Airlines Antonov An-12, the airline's first aircraft type after their independence from Aeroflot
 
A former Ural Airlines Tupolev Tu-154B-2
 
A meal aboard Ural Airlines

A million passengers per year was first achieved in 2006. Since then, the airline and its passenger numbers have both grown. In 2013, the airline transported 4.419 million passengers, the sixth most in Russia that year.[10]

Passengers transported
Year Amount
2018 9.001 million[11] ( 13%)
2017 8.000 million[12] ( 24%)
2016 6.467 million[13] ( 19%)
2015 5.445 million[14] ( 6%)
2014 5.161 million[15] ( 17%)
2013 4.419 million[10] ( 25%)
2012 3.525 million[16] ( 40%)
2011 2.513 million[17] ( 40%)
2010 1.792 million[17] ( 12%)
2009 1.497 million[14] ( 3%)
2008 1.450 million[14] ( 19%)
2007 1.217 million[14] ( 20%)
2006 1.011 million[14] ( 11%)
2005 0.909 million[14]
Financial performance[14]
Year Revenue Net profit
2015 ₽43,843 million ( 19%) ₽285 million (-49%)
2014 ₽36,666 million ( 25%) ₽559 million ( 171%)
2013 ₽29,199 million ( 26%) ₽206 million ( 42%)
2012 ₽23,102 million ( 33%) ₽145 million ( 1%)
2011 ₽17,329 million ( 32%) ₽143 million ( 376%)
2010 ₽13,061 million ( 23%) ₽30 million ( 101%)
2009 ₽10,573 million (-8%) ₽-758 million (-346%)
2008 ₽11,528 million ( 59%) ₽307 million ( 103%)
2007 ₽7,240 million ( 16%) ₽-138 million (-611%)
2006 ₽6,241 million ₽27 million

Destinations

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As of November 2023, the airline serves 11 countries on 138 routes.[1][18]

Codeshare agreements

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Ural Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[19]

Fleet

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Ural Airlines Airbus A321-200
 
Ural Airlines Airbus A321neo

Current fleet

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As of September 2024, the Ural Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[citation needed]

Ural Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
B E Total
Airbus A319-100 4 8 132 140
Airbus A320-200 20 12 144 156
150 162
Airbus A320neo 3 8 168 176 [24][25]
Airbus A321-200 11 215 215
220 220
Airbus A321neo 8 236 236
Total 46

Fleet development

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Ural Airlines also started considering updating its fleet with newer Airbus A320neo family or Boeing 737 Next Generation and is still considering purchasing Airbus A330.[citation needed] It took delivery of its first Airbus A320neo in August 2019.[26] The airline also considered purchasing Irkut MC-21s, but the plans were probably withdrawn.[27] In 2022 Air Lease Corporation are seeking to recover one A320neo and one A321ceo, as the lease payments are not being made.[citation needed] In December 2023 an agreement was reached with leasing company AerCap to buy 19 Airbus planes, with help from the Russian National Wealth Fund.[28]

Retired fleet

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Ural Airlines retired fleet
Aircraft Total Year introduced Year retired Notes
Antonov An-12 2 1992 1998 Accepted from Aeroflot's break up.
Antonov An-24 2 1992 2006 Retired from the re-branding of the airline.
Ilyushin Il-86 4 Un­known 2010 One was leased from Siberia Airlines.
It was the only wide-body aircraft in the airline's fleet.
Tupolev Tu-154B 3 Un­known 2006 Retired from the re-branding of the airline.
Tupolev Tu-154M 5 Un­known 2011[4] The last Soviet-built aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

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Passenger fraud incidents

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In August 2023, a scandal broke out when wider public learned that one of the airline employees of Tatar ethnicity was for several years extorting money from passengers. The employee had used various excuses, particularly that passengers had to pay extra for luggage that was nevertheless undersize and underweight. He did not commit the fraud only against passengers from Tatarstan and North Caucasus regions as he had stated on his social media accounts.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ural Airlines on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  2. ^ Home page. Ural Airlines. Retrieved on 18 July 2010. "Address: Utrenniy 1g, Ekaterinburg Russia, 620025, SITA SVXTOU6" Russian address: Home page. "Адрес: 620025, Россия, Екатеринбург, пер. Утренний, 1г"
  3. ^ "Ural Airlines Fleet Expansion Information". Ch-aviation.ch. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
  4. ^ a b "Уральские авиалинии" вывели из эксплуатации все имеющиеся в компании четыре Ту-154М и намерены продать их [Ural Airlines retired all four Tu-154Ms in the company and intends to sell them] (in Russian). AviaPORT. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Ural Airlines passes eight-millionth-passenger mark in 2017". Russian Aviation Insider. 30 January 2018.
  6. ^ Авиакомпания "Уральские авиалинии" выбирает второй тренажер для подготовки пилотов [Ural Airlines selects a second simulator for training pilots]. ato.ru (in Russian). 5 June 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Ural Airlines". Skytrax.
  8. ^ «Уральские авиалинии» хотят перевезти больше пассажиров [Ural Airlines wants to carry more passengers]. ato.ru. 20 April 2018.
  9. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (24 June 2024). "Ural Airlines and Russian airports operator feature in latest EU sanctions list". Flight Global.
  10. ^ a b Перевозки пассажиров | Росавиация Archived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Новости компании: "Уральские авиалинии" подвели итоги юбилейного 2018 года – авиакомпания "Уральские авиалинии"". www.uralairlines.ru. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  12. ^ ""Уральские авиалинии" в 2017 году перевезли более восьми миллионов пассажиров – авиакомпания "Уральские авиалинии"". www.uralairlines.ru. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  13. ^ Insider, Russian Aviation (2017-04-13). "Ural Airlines traffic grows 22% in March - Russian aviation news". Russian Aviation Insider. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "Ural Airlines - Russian aviation news". Russian Aviation Insider. 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  15. ^ "Пассажиропоток "Уральских авиалиний" в 2014 году составил более 5 млн человек". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  16. ^ Пассажиропоток «Уральских авиалиний» за год вырос на 40% Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ a b Росавиация, Основные показатели работы гражданской авиации России за январь-декабрь 2010—2011 годы Archived 2014-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Ural Airlines Flights and Destinations - FlightConnections". www.flightconnections.com. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  19. ^ "Profile on Ural Airlines". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2016-10-31. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  20. ^ ""Уральские авиалинии" будут выполнять рейсы из Москвы в Челябинск совместно с "Белавиа"". kommersant.ru. 31 July 2018.
  21. ^ Liu, Jim (30 October 2019). "KLM begins Ural Airlines codeshare from late-Oct 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Авиакомпании Red Wings и "Уральские авиалинии" договорились о совместных перевозках". PravdaUrfo. 7 October 2021.
  23. ^ "Авиакомпании-партнёры". s7.ru.
  24. ^ Liu, Jim (5 August 2019). "Ural Airlines outlines A320neo service from mid-Aug 2019". Routesonline.
  25. ^ Nick Wenzel (August 8, 2019). "Ural Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A320neo". International Flight Network. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  26. ^ Nick Wenzel (August 8, 2019). "Ural Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A320neo". International Flight Network. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  27. ^ ""Уральские авиалинии" начали переговоры о приобретении A321neo". ato.ru (in Russian). Azimuth. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  28. ^ "Ural Airlines completes insurance settlement with AerCap on 19 Airbus planes". 22 December 2023.
  29. ^ Fox, Kara (15 August 2019). "Russian plane crash-lands outside Moscow after striking flock of gulls". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  30. ^ Ostroukh, Andrey; Balmforth, Tom (15 August 2019). "Russia hails miracle after plane makes emergency landing near Moscow". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  31. ^ "Russia bird strike: Plane crash-lands after hitting gulls". BBC. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Russia: Ural Airlines Flight U61383 makes emergency landing in Novosibirsk region the morning of Sept. 12 /update 1". Russia: Ural Airlines Flight U61383 makes emergency landing in Novosibirsk region the morning of Sept. 12 / update 1 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  33. ^ "Люди рыдают, встают на колени. На рейсах «Уральских авиалиний» сотрудник требует денег и не пускает на самолет" [People are crying and kneeling. On Ural Airlines flights, an employee demands money and does not let you on the plane]. e1.ru - Ekaterinburg news (in Russian). 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
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