RAF-Avia is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. It operates cargo services for TNT

TNT N.V.

TNT N.V., more commonly known as TNT, is an international express and mail delivery services company with headquarters in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. In the Netherlands, TNT operates the national postal service under the name TNT Post. The group also offers postal services in eight other European...

, DHL

DHL

DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....

 and others, as well as transport for the military and the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 and passenger charters. Its main base is Riga International Airport

Riga International Airport

-Cargo airlines:*DHL Express*Inversija*RAF-Avia*Sprintair*TNT NV*Transavibaltika*UPS-Traffic statistics:Riga International Airport is one of three notable airports in Latvia. The other two are Liepāja International Airport and Ventspils Airport. Riga International Airport's biggest air carrier is...

 .

History

The airline was established in 1990 as the first private airline in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. It started operations in 1991 flying spare parts and supply for the RAF Minibus production plant

Rigas Autobusu Fabrika

The Riga Autobus Factory was a factory in Jelgava, Latvia, making vans and minibuses under the brand name Latvija....

 in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. In 1994 RAF-Avia began to switch to the commercial charter flight business. In 1996 it became a privately owned joint stock company. It is wholly owned by the RAF-Avia Group .

Fleet

The RAF-Avia fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 27 September 2008) http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=MTL&al_op=1:

RAF-Avia Cargo Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Notes
Antonov An-26 Antonov An-26 The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the USSR from 12 March 1968.-Development:...	5	YL-RAA/B/C/D/E
Antonov An-74	1	YL-RAF
Saab 340A	2	YL-RAG, YL-RAH

External links

• RAF-Avia