KRASAIR

'KrasAir' or 'Krasnoyarsk Airlines' (Russian: 'Красноярские авиалинии') is one of the leading airlines in Russia and based in Krasnoyarsk. It operates scheduled regional and international passenger services, freight transport, cargo handling and charter services. Its main base is Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport.^[1]

Contents

History

Destinations

Fleet

External links

References

History

The airline sprang from the Yenisey Airwing (set up in 1934) of Aeroflot and was established in 1982. In 1993 it was privatised and organised as a joint stock company. In October 2004 KrasAir and Domodedovo Airlines set up a joint management company called AirBridge. While retaining separate legal identities the airlines are planning to integrate their networks and services, as they are largely complementary. The airline is owned by the city government of Krasnoyarsk (51%) and Air Bridge Management (49%) and has 4,314 employees (at March 2007). It also owns a 71% stake in Omskavia.
KrasAir is owned by Boris Abramovich (CEO, no relation to Roman Abramovich) and his brother Alexander Abramovich (deputy CEO, no relation to Roman Abramovich). The Abramovich brothers' aggressive expansion campaign led to the creation of AiRUnion alliance in 2005, the first airline alliance in Russia. It includes KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines, Samara Airlines, Omskavia and Sibaviatrans and is the third largest domestic carrier in Russia. All of the member airlines are virtually controlled by Krasair.
In 2005 KrasAir attempted to expand internationally, placing a winning bid in Hungary's national carrier Malév privatisation tender. The tender results were initially annulled by Hungarian authorities^[2] before finally being being sold in February 2007.^[3]
KrasAir managers are part of a venture together with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to create a new low-cost airline called Sky Express. This airline will be based at Vnukovo Airport and fly initially to domestic routes, using as many as 44 Boeing 737-300/500s. The airline's airfares are to be 30-40% cheaper than other carriers.^[4]
During 2006 1,118,543 passengers were transported by KrasAir^[5] and AiRUnion transported 3,342,815 passengers^[6]

Destinations

Main articles: KrasAir destinations

Fleet

KrasAir's Tupolev Tu-154M in new livery

As of March 2007 the KrasAir fleet includes:

Aircraft	#	Seats	Notes
Antonov 148	(11 on order)
Boeing 737-300	6	144
Boeing 757-200	4		Leased from ILFC
Boeing 767-200ER	4	214
Ilyushin Il-86	4	350
Ilyushin Il-96-300	2	263
Tupolev Tu-154M	15	164
Tupolev Tu-204-100	1	175
Tupolev Tu-214	1	175

As of December 2006 KrasAir is introducing four leased Boeing 757-200 aircraft as part of its fleet upgrade. The aircraft are on the Irish register and were previously operated by Iberia Airlines and Varig^[7]

External links

★ KrasAir

References

1. Directory: World Airlines
2. Budapest Times
3. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6391387.stm
4. Kommersant
5. KrasAir press release
6. http://www.krasair.ru/doc.php?id=1510 KrasAir press release
7. Flight International 12-18 December 2006