As you know, across the vast territory of Russia it is very difficult to travel by train or car. If in Europe you can rent a car and go to any neighboring country or drive around the European Union, in Russia even a trip to a neighboring city can take a lot of time and effort. That is why air transport for Russia plays a huge role. In this article we will try to highlight the best airlines in Russia.
Aeroflot
The famous Russian airline Aeroflot was founded back in 1923. Today it produces about 11% of all air traffic within Russia and about 40% of international flights. The numbers are really amazing! Even the other best Russian airlines are unlikely to compare with Aeroflot, which is trusted by millions of people.
This company makes, perhaps, air transportation to almost all corners of our big world. Aircraft fly to the CIS countries, to Asia, North and South America. Since February 2012, Aeroflot has become even more popular in Russia.
"Siberia"
One of the most progressive Russian lines called Siberia is also included in the best airlines in Russia. The airline was created in 1957, and also has bases at three airports: in Moscow “Domodedovo”, in Novosibirsk “Tolmachevo”, as well as in Irkutsk airport. To date, the transportation of passengers by this air carrier is carried out both within Russia and abroad. The company has about 130 destinations in 29 countries. The best Russian airlines made room when Sibir began to gain popularity. Today she is fighting for a leadership position with Aeroflot Airlines.
The following cities are considered the most popular destinations: Dubai, Istanbul, Bangkok, Dusseldorf, Munich, and also Tel Aviv. In 2011, this airline had a major breakthrough - they made about 60,000 flights per year.
Ural Airlines
Two decades ago, the best airlines in Russia made room because the famous Ural Airlines opened. Today the headquarters of this company is located in Yekaterinburg. Her work focuses on charter flights, as well as on regular domestic and, of course, international flights.
From the very beginning of Ural Airlines' operations, its leader, owner and director was the famous 1st-class pilot, Honored Worker of the Russian Federation Sergey Skuratov, who was also awarded the Order of Honor. In mid-September, this company was included in the sanctions list of Ukraine.
The best airlines in Russia realized that Ural Airlines is a serious competitor, despite the fact that it is quite young compared to them. The company’s first millionth passenger’s plane took off in 2006, after which its business went smoothly. A breakthrough at Ural Airlines occurred between 2011 and 2012, when the number of customers exceeded 40%. What is the best airline in Russia? Someone may say that this is a young but already mega-popular Russian company. And he will be absolutely right.
In addition, Ural Airlines has many agreements with the most reliable and rated foreign airlines. Among them are the Czech giant Czech Airlines and Dubai-based Emirates, which for many years has been at the top of international rankings.
The fleet of this airline consists exclusively of new aircraft, and a total of 35 (according to data for 2015).
Company "Yamal"
The top of the best Russian airlines replenished in 1997, when the Yamal transport company began operating. Of course, so far it is not as popular as the others, but it is gaining momentum very quickly.
Yamal is a full-fledged Russian carrier; it carries out charter and regular flights throughout Russia and to some cities abroad. The main airports where Yamal planes arrive are Moscow Domodedovo Airport, Roshchino Airport in Tyumen and Salekhard. The largest owner of this airline (it owns about 97% of all shares of the company) is the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
In 2008, the Yamal company had a breakthrough - its aircraft began flying to Geneva (Switzerland), Salzburg (Austria), Burgas (Bulgaria), Pardubice (Czech Republic), as well as to Plovdiv (Bulgaria). However, despite all the successes, Yamal did not enter the best Russian airlines for safety.
UTair
The UTair company was founded back in 1934, but it began to operate only in 1991. It is characterized by the fact that it has a huge, largest Russian helicopter fleet. This fleet operates not only in Russia, but also in various countries abroad. UTair Airlines ranks second in passenger traffic after Aeroflot. For example, for the whole of 2015, she was lucky to carry almost 9 million people, which is a huge figure for Russian airlines.
The headquarters is located in Tyumen.
UTair has a fleet - helicopter and aircraft. The airline’s fleet is very rich - it owns 63 aircraft (as of early 2016). However, before the company had more aircraft. In 2014, the company was in a critical situation, it lacked finance. The UTair helicopter fleet consists of 340 pieces of equipment, including the largest hoisting helicopters, which are capable of transporting about 20 tons at a time.
Kuban
The Kuban Airlines is not very large, it has only 6 aircraft in its arsenal. But due to the fact that they monitor the safety and quality of flights, the company got into the list of the best airlines in Russia. Despite huge revenues, in 2012 its owners declared bankruptcy and closed the Kuban. Strange, but so far it is included in the rating of the best airlines in Russia.
It is extremely difficult to judge which airline is better in Russia if you did not use the services of each of them. However, the choice is always made by people who use the services of different airlines. Today, Russian airlines lag behind in quality of service, but still the best Russian airlines are developing rapidly and always offer customers something new.