Red Wings is an airline based in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, 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...

. The airline provides both scheduled passenger and cargo charter services.

History

Red Wings was founded in 1999 under the name VARZ-400, after the Russian acronym of the Vnukovo Avia Repair Factory

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

. It was renamed Airlines 400 in 2001, before being given its current name in 2007.

It is now owned by the tycoon Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev is a Russian businessman, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs.In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $3.1 billion...

, who wanted to create a discount airline using modern Russian Tupolev Tu-204-100

Tupolev Tu-204

The Tupolev Tu-204 is a twin-engined medium-range jet airliner capable of carrying 210 passengers, designed by Tupolev and produced by Aviastar SP and Kazan Aircraft Production Association. First introduced in 1989, it is considered to be broadly equivalent to the Boeing 757 and has competitive...

, both new-built and used. The company currently operates 8 Tupolev Tu-204-100

Tupolev Tu-204

The Tupolev Tu-204 is a twin-engined medium-range jet airliner capable of carrying 210 passengers, designed by Tupolev and produced by Aviastar SP and Kazan Aircraft Production Association. First introduced in 1989, it is considered to be broadly equivalent to the Boeing 757 and has competitive...

s and also sought to acquire Airbus A320

Airbus A320

The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...

s and possibly Airbus A321s to complement its Tu-204 fleet.

Lebedev also owns 49% of German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 charter airline Blue Wings

Blue Wings

Blue Wings AG was a charter airline based in Germany, focussing on serving Turkey, the Middle East and Russia from its base at Düsseldorf International Airport; the headquarters were in Bocholt, Germany.- History :...

, which was to become Red Wings's sister company. However, on 13 January 2010, Blue Wings ceased all operations, filing bankrupt due to the economical crisis which had led to a pull-out of investors.

Fleet

The Red Wings fleet comprises the following aircraft (as of January 2010):

Red Wings Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers (Economy)	Notes
Tu- 204-100	8	1	210
Tu- 204SM	0	44	210	Largest operator of the Tu-204
Red Wings Cargo Fleet
Il-76TD	2	0	n/a
Total	10	45	2