S7 Airlines

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S7 Airlines
IATA
S7		 ICAO
SBI		 Callsign
SIBERIAN AIRLINES
Founded May 1992
Hubs Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport
Domodedovo International Airport
Irkutsk International Airport
Chelyabinsk Airport
Alliance None
Fleet size 61
Destinations 73
Parent company S7 Group
Headquarters Novosibirsk, Russia
Key people Vladislav Filyov (General Director)
Website: http://www.s7.aero/

S7 Airlines is an airline based in Novosibirsk, Russia. It was formerly known as Sibir (Siberia) Airlines (in Russian: Авиакомпания "Сибирь"). It operates scheduled passenger flights to Russian and CIS destinations, as well as international services to China, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. Its main bases and hubs are Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow and Tolmachevo Airport (OVB), Novosibirsk, with a further hub at Irkutsk International Airport (IKT), Irkutsk.

Contents

[edit] History

Siberia Airlines was established in May 1992 in Ob, a city near Novosibirsk.

It is a successor of former Tolmachevo United Avia Squadron (Russian: Толмачевский объединенный авиаотряд), which was a local subsidiary of Aeroflot.

Tolmachevo United Avia Squadron dates back to 12 July 1957, when it accomplished the first flight from Moscow to Novosibirsk. The first international flight was carried in 1991 to Harbin, China. In 1994 the airline joined IATA. Also that year it became an open joint stock company and had started its first international route (as Siberia Airlines) from Novosibirsk to Frankfurt, Germany.

S7 Airlines B737 at Tolmachevo
S7 Airlines B737 at Tolmachevo

In the first half of the 1990s Siberia Airlines was a medium-size regional airline like many others created from the former Aeroflot. It was mainly focused on domestic flights from Novosibirsk. However, by the end of the decade the airline started aggressive expansion in the Russian domestic market.

Siberia Airlines has grown mainly through a series of mergers with smaller regional airlines. In 1999 it opened its Moscow branch in Vnukovo International Airport. The charter flights program from Sheremetyevo International Airport followed in 2000. Also the company created a hub in Irkutsk.

In the start of the 2000s the airline also acquired one of the major Moscow-market players - Vnukovo Airlines, based in Vnukovo International Airport. Thus, in 2001 it became the second-largest carrier in Russia.

Since 2002 all Moscow flights are operated from Domodedovo International Airport, which is the biggest hub of the company so far. The company started a close partnership with Armenian airline Armavia and owned 70% of that company until 2005. Siberia Airlines crews operate Armavia A320s on flights from Yerevan to Moscow and Novosibirsk.

As of 2003 it was the second-largest airline in Russia. It ranked second in Russian international flights market and first in the domestic market. The airline carried 3.4 million of passengers in 2003. It employed 4950 staff at January 2005.

In 2005, Siberia Airlines rolled out its new livery, featuring a marketing strategy focusing on the brand "S7". Both the branding and livery were created by London brand consultancy, Landor Associates.

On May 5, 2006, Siberia Airlines was rebranded as S7 Airlines. The airline also embarked on an advertising campaign using the slogan "Свобода выбирать" (Freedom to Choose).

The airline has also established a new base in Chelyabinsk, flying to seven scheduled destinations within Russia and the former Soviet Union.

The airline might have plans to join Star Alliance by 2008 but it is still not sure. In the aftermath of the S7 Airlines Flight 778 aircrash at Irkutsk in July 2006, it was reported that the Russian Government's 25.5% stake in the airline may be passed to Aeroflot Russian Airlines as part of a consolidation programme within the Russian aviation industry. It is claimed that the above crash may speed up this process. [1]. This may mean that the airline joins SkyTeam instead of Star Alliance.

In December 2006, the airline became the second Russian air carrier to complete the IATA International Safety Audit (IOSA), which is the first global air safety standard. Once it has made changes to its current documents and technology, it hopes to receive its IOSA certificate in early 2007 [2]

[edit] Incidents and accidents

[edit] Destinations

Main article: S7 destinations

[edit] New Routes

S7 Airlines has established a new base in Chelyabinsk and will offer the following flights from there:

The airline also added the following flights to its schedule from Moscow:

[edit] Fares/Ticketing

According to the newspaper Kommersant, the airline has announced that it will offer 400,000 tickets to passengers at an 'ultralow' price during the 2006 winter schedule. Prices range from 900 to 1400 Russian roubles. The strategy has been adopted to encourage more people to fly who generally wouldn't, thus increasing the airline's load factors. The tickets have to be purchased up to thirty days before the flight, they have to be bought on the internet, and are only applicable on domestic routes. [3] Unfortunately, the tax policy was not stable even for one month. At the beginning of December, the company has suddenly five times raised its 'ultraflow' prices and declined them on some important routes (e.g. flights to Moscow). However, some reduced prices on the foreign routes were applied.

In line with a IATA resolution, from December 2006 the airline began to publish its fares for international destinations originating in Russia in euros, rather than US dollars. This resulted in a fare increase as the conversion rate is 1 Euro = 1 US Dollar. Fuel surcharges are also published in euros. Its domestic fares are still shown in the local currency. [4]

[edit] Fleet

As of August 2006 the S7 Airlines fleet includes:

Aircraft # Seats Notes
Airbus A310-200 5 255 (14/241)
Airbus A310-300 2 203 (12/191)
205 (12/193)		 One was lost on July 9, 2006 due to accident
Airbus A319-100 6 128 (8/120)
Boeing 737-400 2 170 (0/170) for charter services
Boeing 737-500 10 104 (8/96)
Ilyushin Il-86 9 316..350 (0/350)
316 (20/296)		 To be retired until end of 2009.
Tupolev Tu-154M 28 154 (8/146)

The first western aircraft, Airbus A310, were acquired in 2004. During the 1990s the airline also used Antonov An-24, Antonov An-26 and Tupolev Tu-134.

In summer 2004 during the Farnborough Air Show the company signed a memorandum of intention to purchase 50 of new Sukhoi Russian Regional Jet with the first plane to be delivered in 2007. However, the airline subsequently dropped its plans to order this aircraft, citing that the aircraft's changed specifications no longer met its requirements. [5].

In 2005, the airline introduced Boeing 737-500. In 2006, it has retired its two Tupolev Tu-204-100s, inherited from its acquisition of Vnukovo Airlines.

The airline also has an outstanding order for 10 former Northwest Airlines Airbus A319-100 aircraft. These leased aircraft will begin to be deployed in summer 2006. [6]

[edit] Trivia

  • Two Airbus A310 aircraft operated by the airline feature discretely in Rogue Traders' music video, Watching You. Although the aircraft are in two-tone grey, the red "S7" emblem can be seen on several occasions.

[edit] External links

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