Belavia

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Belavia Belarusian Airlines
Белавія / Белавиа
Belavia logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
B2 BRU BELARUS AVIA
Founded 5 March 1996
Hubs Minsk National Airport
Frequent-flyer program Belavia Leader
Fleet size 25[1]
Destinations 40
Parent company Government of Belarus
Headquarters Minsk, Belarus
Key people Anatoliy Nikolaevich Gusarov, Director-general
Website belavia.by

Belavia Belarusian Airlines, legally Republic Unitary Enterprise "National Aircompany Belavia" (Belarusian: Рэспубліканскае унітарнае прадпрыемства «Нацыянальная авіякампанія «Белавія»; Russian: Республиканское унитарное предприятие «Национальная авиакомпания «Белавиа»), is the national airline company of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk.[2] The state-owned company has 1,017 employees[3] and is the Belarusian flag carrier. Belavia serves a network of routes between European cities and the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as some Middle East destinations from its base at Minsk National Airport.[3]

History

Early years

On 7 November 1933, the first Belarusian air terminal opened in Minsk. In the next spring 3 Po-2 aircraft landed in Minsk. They became the first aircraft of the Belarusian air fleet. In 1936 the first regular air route between Minsk and Moscow was established. In the summer of 1940 the Belarusian civil aviation group was officially founded.

In 1964, the Tupolev Tu-124 aircraft received Belarusian registration. In 1973, the then new Tupolev Tu-134A began operating in Belarus. In 1983 Belarusian aviation started flying the new Tupolev Tu-154 planes.

The airline was officially founded on 5 March 1996 in accordance with a resolution of the Belarusian Government "About the restructuring of air transport of the Republic Belarus", when the local Aeroflot division was nationalised and renamed. Between then and 1998 Belavia opened regular routes to Beijing, Istanbul, Larnaca, London, Prague, and Rome. In 1998, Belavia merged with MinskAvia, acquiring several Antonov An-24, Antonov An-26 and Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft in addition to existing fleet of Tupolev Tu-134 and Tupolev Tu-154 airplanes.

Development since the 2000s

Belavia head office

On 18 May 2001, Belavia commenced a Minsk-Paris scheduled service with Tu154s and Tu134s.

In 2003 Belavia started publishing an in-flight magazine Horizons in English, Russian and Belarusian. On 16 October 2003, Belavia signed a leasing agreement for its first Boeing 737-500 aircraft. In 2004, Belavia further extended operations and acquired one more Boeing 737. On 26 June 2004 Belavia opened a new route to Hanover, Germany. 2011 saw the introduction of a new route between Minsk and Helsinki, Finland.

Between 2003 and 2009, the airline has seen its passenger numbers double and in 2009 handled just under 700,000 customers.[4]

Three leased Bombardier CRJ 100 aircraft were introduced on regional services from Minsk. The first one was delivered in February 2007, with the other two later in 2007. They directly replaced the aging Antonov An-24 and Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft.[5] It was looking to lease two Bombardier CRJ-700s in 2010.[6] Belavia had also planned to retire its remaining Tupolev Tu-154Ms by 2011 following the retirement of its last Tupolev Tu-134 in summer 2009 which was replaced by an ex-FlyLAL Boeing 737-500. On 27 June 2014 an order was announced for three Boeing 737-800 aircraft to be acquired directly by Belavia.

Belavia is considering adding longhaul aircraft to its fleet to introduce new routes to China and North America. The government is reportedly also considering merging regional carrier Gomelavia and cargo operator TransAVIAexport Airlines into Belavia.

By the end of May 2015, Belavia retired their Tupolev Tu-154s from scheduled services. The airline was the last one worldwide to operate Tu-154s on public scheduled routes.[7]

Destinations

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Main article: Belavia destinations

Belavia flies to Asia, Europe and Africa from its base at Minsk National Airport. In addition to scheduled destinations listed here, Belavia operates charter flights to leisure destinations and VIP charters.

Codeshare agreements

Belavia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of November 2015):[8]

Fleet

Current fleet

Belavia Boeing 737-300
Belavia Tupolev Tu-154M

As of May 2015, the Belavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:[10]

Belavia Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Boeing 737-300 9 — — 148 148
Boeing 737-500 3 — 8 112 120
2 8 115 123
1 var. var. 138
Boeing 737-800 2 3[11] — 189 189
Bombardier CRJ200 3 — — 50 50
Embraer 175 2 — 12 64 76[12]
Embraer 195 2 — 11 96 107[13]
Tupolev Tu-154M 1 — — 131-164 131-164 operated for the Government of Belarus
Total 25 3

Historic fleet

A now retired Belavia Tupolev Tu-134 in 2008
Belavia retired fleet[14]
Aircraft Notes
Antonov An-10
Antonov An-24 Acquired in 1998 from MinskAvia
Antonov An-26 Acquired in 1998 from MinskAvia
Ilyushin Il-86 EW-86062,[15] ex СССР-86062, then RA-86062 to Atlant-Soyuz Airlines;[16] Was used in 1994—1996 on charter routes to US and China[17]
Tupolev Tu-124
Tupolev Tu-134A
Tupolev Tu-154B One used as Training Mock-up
Tupolev Tu-154B1 Scrapped
Tupolev Tu-154B2 6 scrapped, 9 stored at MSQ; One used as Training Mock-up[18]
Yakovlev Yak-40 Acquired in 1998 from MinskAvia

Incidents and accidents

  • On 6 January 2003, a Yakovlev Yak-40 suffered a shattered windshield during flight, en route to Prague. Two Czech Air Force fighters accompanied the plane to a safe landing in Ruzyně International Airport.[19]
  • On 14 February 2008, Belavia Flight 1834, a Bombardier CRJ-100ER en route from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk hit its left wing on the runway during takeoff from Zvartnots International Airport, subsequently crashing on the ground, flipping over and coming to a stop inverted near the runway. All 18 passengers and 3 crew members managed to escape the aircraft before it erupted into flames, partly due to the timely response of the fire and rescue crew at the airport. The main cause of the crash was icing contamination leading to a stall of the left wing.[20]

References

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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

  • Official website
  • Belavia on FacebookLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Belavia on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Airliner World, February 2007
  6. ↑ http://www.belta.by/en/news/econom?id=474506
  7. ↑ http://www.aerotelegraph.com/der-letzte-flug-der-tupolew-tu-154
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Belavia retrieved 4 June 2015
  11. ↑ boeing.com - Orders and deliveries retrieved 4 June 2015
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://en.belavia.by/company/air_fleet/
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ http://www.forumavia.ru/forum/3/9/469344622858777392371198183939_1.shtml
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Pravda Canopy of Belarusian Yak-40 burst in air. Published 6 January 2003.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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