KrasAir
Encyclopedia
KrasAir or Krasnoyarsk Airlines was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n airline with its head office on the grounds of Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport in Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...

. It operated scheduled regional and international passenger services, freight transport, cargo handling and charter services from the main base is Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport, as part of AiRUnion
AiRUnion
AiRUnion was a Russian airline alliance. It was the first airline alliance ever established in Russia. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoyed a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing, code sharing, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer program benefits, shared airport...

 alliance. In 2008 Krasair suffered a liquidity crisis
Liquidity crisis
In financial economics, liquidity is a catch-all term that may refer to several different yet closely related concepts. Among other things, it may refer to Asset Market liquidity In financial economics, liquidity is a catch-all term that may refer to several different yet closely related...

, and after a string of operational shutdowns, administrative and strikes, the company ceased operations in October 2008.

Privatization

The company traces its roots to the Krasnoyarsk-based Yenisey air wing, established by the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route
Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route
The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route , also known as Glavsevmorput, was a Soviet government organization in charge of the naval Northern Sea Route, established in January 1932 and dissolved in 1964.-History:The organization traces its roots to AO Komseveroput, a shipping company...

 in May, 1934. The air wing eventually differentiated into traditional airline operations, and was as Krasnoyarsk Civil Aviation Directorate (1946–1982) and Krasnoyarsk Aviation Enterprize (1982–1993). In 1993 it was privatized with the state retaining 51% controlling share.

In October 2004 KrasAir and Domodedovo Airlines
Domodedovo Airlines
JSC "Domodedovo Airlines" was an airline with its head office on the grounds of Domodedovo International Airport in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It operated scheduled flights within Russia and the CIS, with a focus on flights to the Russian Far East. The airline also operated...

 set up a joint management company called AirBridge. While retaining separate legal identities the airlines planned to integrate their networks and services, which were largely complementary.

AiRUnion

KrasAir was managed Boris Abramovich (CEO, no relation to Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...

) and his brother Alexander Abramovich (deputy CEO). The Abramovich brothers' aggressive expansion campaign led to the creation of AiRUnion
AiRUnion
AiRUnion was a Russian airline alliance. It was the first airline alliance ever established in Russia. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoyed a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing, code sharing, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer program benefits, shared airport...

 alliance in 2005, the first airline alliance in Russia. It includes KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines
Domodedovo Airlines
JSC "Domodedovo Airlines" was an airline with its head office on the grounds of Domodedovo International Airport in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It operated scheduled flights within Russia and the CIS, with a focus on flights to the Russian Far East. The airline also operated...

, Samara Airlines
Samara Airlines
Samara Airlines was an airline based in Samara, Russia. It operated scheduled and charter flights from Samara to destinations in Russia and other countries and charter flights to Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Spain, Turkey and United Arab Emirates...

, Omskavia
Omskavia
Omskavia was an airline based in Omsk, Russia. It operated domestic and international scheduled and charter, passenger, cargo and mail services, as well as aircraft maintenance...

 and Sibaviatrans
Sibaviatrans
Sibaviatrans was an airline based in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. It operated scheduled and charter passenger and cargo flights from various locations around Russia. It also provided helicopter services. It was a member of AiRUnion alliance....

 and was the third largest domestic carrier in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. All of the member airlines were controlled by Krasair management.

In 2005 KrasAir attempted to expand internationally, placing a winning bid in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

's national carrier Malév
Malév Hungarian Airlines
Malév Hungarian Airlines is the flag carrier and principal airline of Hungary. It has its head office in the Lurdy House in Budapest, with its main operations at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. From there, the airline flies to 50 cities in 34 countries worldwide using a fleet of 22...

 privatisation tender. The tender results were initially annulled by Hungarian authorities before finally being sold in February 2007. During 2006 1,118,543 passengers were transported by KrasAir and AiRUnion transported 3,342,815 passengers

KrasAir managers were part of a venture together with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to create a new low-cost airline called Sky Express
Sky Express
CJSC Sky Express , also known in Russian as Скай Экспресс, was the first Russian airline to present itself as a low-cost carrier focusing on domestic flights...

. This airline was to be based at Vnukovo Airport
Vnukovo International Airport
Vnukovo International Airport , is a dual runway international airport located southwest from the centre of Moscow, Russia. It is one of three major airports serving Moscow...

 and fly initially to domestic routes, using as many as 44 Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

-300/500s. The airline's airfares were to be 30-40% cheaper than other carriers.

2008 crisis

In June and August 2008 Krasair and AiRUnion
AiRUnion
AiRUnion was a Russian airline alliance. It was the first airline alliance ever established in Russia. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoyed a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing, code sharing, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer program benefits, shared airport...

 fleets were grounded as the fuel suppliers denied further credit fuel to debt-ridden airlines. In June, Krasair and its principal supplier, Krasnoyard-based Sibir Avia Service, reached an agreement to resume fuel supply on condition that Krasair debt did not exceed 100 million roubles. By the middle of August the debt rose to 223 million roubles, and on August 19 Sibir Avia stopped refuelling, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in airports. Krasair blamed the crisis on rising oil prices. In first six months of 2008, fuel accounted for 54% of Krasair costs. Flights were also grounded in Moscow and Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...

 airports.

Analysts predicted that the fuel crisis would be resolved through intervention of Rostechhologii, a newly formed state conglomerate that controls substantial shares of AiRUnion companies, including Krasair; alternatively, the state may prefer to complete formal bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 process and restructure AiRUnion assets under a new management. On August 24, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 specifically addressed the problem of the grounded airline, authorizing Sergey Ivanov to issue state funds and enable further operations.

On August 26, media reports appeared to indicate that bankruptcy was inevitable. Russian Technologies, the principal shareholder, refused to pay AiRUnion's bills and its fleet remained grounded. The same day, the Russian Ministry of Transportation negotiated with Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

, Transaero
Transaero
OJSC Transaero Airlines or simply Transaero is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Domodedovo International Airport, Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It operates scheduled and charter flights to more than 99 domestic and international destinations...

, S7 Airlines
S7 Airlines
OJSC Siberia Airlines , operating as S7 Airlines, is an airline headquartered in Ob, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, with offices in Moscow. S7 Airlines has been Russia's fastest-growing airline and recently passed Aeroflot as Russia's largest domestic airline.S7 has operated scheduled passenger...

 and Rossiya
Rossiya (airline)
Rossiya Airlines OJSC , operating as Rossiya — Russian Airlines is a secondary national airline with its head office in Saint Petersburg, Russia, resulting from the 2006 merger of the Moscow-based company of the same name and Saint Petersburg-based Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise...

 about taking over the routes previously operated by Krasair.

On October 27, Krasair was unable to fly most of their aircraft due to a pilots' strike as a refusal by refuelling companies to extend credit to the airline. It was announced that Krasair would cease to exist on November 1, 2008.

Destinations


Fleet

The KrasAir fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as at May 2008):
KrasAir Fleet
Aircraft Photo Total
Boeing 737-300 6
Boeing 757-200 4
Boeing 767-200ER 4
Ilyushin Il-86
Ilyushin Il-86
The Ilyushin Il-86 is a medium-range wide-body jet airliner. It was the USSR's first wide-body and the world's second four-engined wide-body...

4
Ilyushin Il-96-300 2
Tupolev Tu-154
Tupolev Tu-154
The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid 1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. As the mainstay 'workhorse' of Soviet and Russian airlines for several decades, it serviced over a sixth of the world's landmass and carried half of all passengers flown...

15
Tupolev Tu-214 1

External links

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