'Azerbaijan Airlines' ('AZAL',
Azeri: Azərbaycan Hava Yolları) is the national
airline of
Azerbaijan based in
Baku. It is the state-owned airline operating scheduled passenger and cargo services from Baku to the
CIS,
Europe,
China and the
Middle East, as well as domestic services. Its main base is
Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Baku
[1].
History
The airline was established and started operations on
7 April 1992. It wholly owns subsidiary airline
Azal Avia Cargo.
Destinations
Azerbaijan Airlines operates services to the following international scheduled destinations (at August 2007):
[2]
=
Central Asia=
★
Kazakstan
★
★
Aqtau (
Shevchenko Airport)
=
East Asia=
★
People's Republic of China
★
★
Ürümqi (
Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport)
=
Southwest Asia=
★
Afghanistan
★
★
Kabul (
Kabul International Airport)
★
Azerbaijan
★
★
Baku (
Heydar Aliyev International Airport) 'Hub'
★
Georgia
★
★
Tbilisi (
Tbilisi International Airport)
★
Iran
★
★
Tehran (
Imam Khomeini International Airport)
★
Israel
★
★
Tel Aviv (
Ben Gurion International Airport)
★
United Arab Emirates
★
★
Dubai (
Dubai International Airport)
=
Europe=
★
Belarus
★
★
Minsk (
Minsk International Airport)
★
France
★
★
Paris (
Charles de Gaulle International Airport)
★
Italy
★
★
Milan (
Malpensa International Airport)
★
Russia
★
★
Mineralnye Vody (
Mineralnye Vody Airport)
★
★
Moscow (
Domodedovo International Airport)
★
★
Nizhny Novgorod (
Nizhny Novgorod Strigino Airport)
★
★
Saint Petersburg (
Pulkovo Airport)
★
Turkey
★
★
Ankara (
Esenboğa International Airport)
★
★
Antalya (
Antalya International Airport)
★
★
Istanbul (
Atatürk International Airport)
★
Ukrain
★
★
Kiev (
Boryspil Airport)
★
United Kingdom
★
★
London
★
★
★
London Gatwick Airport
★
★
★
London Heathrow Airport
Fleet
The Azerbaijan Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at
September 2007)
:
On order:
★ 1
ATR 42-500
★ 4
ATR 72-500[5]
★ 2
Boeing 737-900[6]
★ 3
Boeing 787
Incidents and accidents
On
December 23,
2005 an Azerbaijan Airlines
Antonov AN-140 plunged into the
Caspian Sea about 20 miles north of the capital,
Baku. All 18 passengers and five crew members died. The plane was on its way to
Aktau. The airline has grounded its other remaining An-140 airplanes, and also postponed plans to purchase more of the type aircraft from the Ukraine.
External links
★
Azerbaijan Airlines
★
Azerbaijan Airlines Fleet
References
1. Flight International, Directory: World Airlines, p.83, 27 March 2007
2. Azerbaijan Airlines routemap, retrieved from their website August 3, 2007
3. Eurocopter Press Release - Azerbaijan Airlines Orders 6 Helicopters From Eurocopter
4. Eurocopter Press Release - Azerbaijan Airlines Orders 6 Helicopters From Eurocopter
5. "Azerbaijan Airlines first ATR 42-500 in a batch of six takes flight" Flight Global, 07/09/07
6. “Boeing and Azerbaijan Airlines Finalize Order for 787s and 737s”, SEATTLE, Feb. 23, 2007, at [1]; last accessed 13 May 2007.