Belavia

Belavia
IATA ICAO Callsign
B2 BRU BELARUS AVIA
Founded 5 March 1996
Hubs Minsk National Airport
Frequent-flyer program Belavia Leader
Fleet size 26
Destinations 52
Parent company Government of Belarus
Headquarters Minsk, Belarus
Key people A. N. Gusarov, Director-general
Website belavia.by

Belavia Belarusian Airlines, legally Joint Stock Company "Belavia Belarusian Airlines" (Belarusian: ААТ «Авіякампанія «Белавія»; Russian: ОАО «Авиакомпания «Белавиа»), is the flag carrier and national airline of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk.[1] The state-owned company had, as of 2007, 1,017 employees.[2] 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.[2]

History

Early years

Belavia logo until 2016
Belavia head office in Minsk

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 "On 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

On 18 May 2001, Belavia commenced a Minsk-Paris scheduled service with Tu-134s and Tu-154s.

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.[3]

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.[4] It was looking to lease two Bombardier CRJ-700s in 2010.[5] 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. The first of these was delivered in August 2016.[6]

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.

In August 2016, Belavia received their first aircraft with their new livery. This is the first re-branding since the company's founding in 1996. The new livery was applied a brand new Boeing 737-800. The much newer 737's replaced the aging Tupolev Tu-154's. On 1 October 2016, Belavia retired their two remaining Tupolev Tu-154s from scheduled services as one of the last airlines worldwide to do so.[7]

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:[8]

Fleet

Current Fleet

Belavia Boeing 737-300
Belavia Boeing 737-800

As of June 2018, the Belavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:[11]

Belavia Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Boeing 737-300 7 — — 148 148 To be phased out.[12]
Boeing 737-500 6 — 8 96 104
— 120 120
Boeing 737-800 5 — — 189 189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 — 4[13] TBA To be delivered May 2019[14]
Bombardier CRJ100ER 1 — — 50 50
Bombardier CRJ200ER 3 — — 50 50
Embraer 175LR 3 2[15][16] 12 64 76[17]
Embraer 195LR 4 3[15][16] 11 96 107[18]
Total 29 9

Historic Fleet

A now retired Belavia Tupolev Tu-134 in 2008
Belavia Retired Fleet[19]
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,[20] ex СССР-86062, then RA-86062 to Atlant-Soyuz Airlines;[21]
Was used in 1994—1996 on charter routes to US and China[22]
Tupolev Tu-124
Tupolev Tu-134A
Tupolev Tu-154B One used as training mock-up
Tupolev Tu-154-B1 Scrapped
Tupolev Tu-154-B2 6 scrapped, 9 stored at MSQ; One used as training mock-up[23]
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.[24]
  • 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.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Belavia website: Contacts". En.belavia.by. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  2. 1 2 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. pp. 84–85.
  3. ↑ "Belavia now serving 32 destinations from Minsk; Stockholm and Tehran latest additions to growing network". anna.aero Airline Route News & Analysis.
  4. ↑ Airliner World, February 2007
  5. ↑ http://www.belta.by/en/news/econom?id=474506%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  6. ↑ "Another NG for Belavia". Airliner World (October 2016): 8. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ↑ "Belarus's Belavia ends scheduled Tu-154M operations".
  8. ↑ "Profile on Belavia". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  9. ↑ Liu, Jim (2 May 2018). "Turkish Airlines / Belavia begins codeshare partnership from May 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "«Уральские авиалинии» будут выполнять рейсы из Москвы в Челябинск совместно с «Белавиа»". kommersant.ru. 31 July 2018.
  11. ↑ en.belavia.by - Aircraft Fleet retrieved 22 June 2018
  12. ↑ "Belarus's Belavia to renew fleet with EJet-E2s, B737 MAX".
  13. ↑ "Belavia to lease four B737 MAX 8s from ALC". ch-aviation.com. 17 July 2018.
  14. ↑ ""Белавиа" получит первый Boeing 737MAX-8 в мае 2019 года". ato.ru. 17 July 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Embraer unveils new Asian, European orders". ch-aviation.com. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Belarus's Belavia to lease five more E-Jets from NAC". ch-aviation.com. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Aviaport news for 07 December 2011" (in Russian). Aviaport.ru. 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  18. ↑ "Aircraft Fleet - BELAVIA - Belarusian Airlines". en.belavia.by.
  19. ↑ "БЕЛАВИА - Национальная авиакомпания Республики Беларусь - История компании". Belavia.by. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  20. ↑ Gerard Helmer (1994-09-09). "Photos: Ilyushin Il-86 Aircraft Pictures". Airliners.net. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  21. ↑ "ММЗ им. С. В. Ильюшина Ил-86". Abaza.ilisso.ru. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  22. ↑ "Forumavia.ru - Ил-86 EW-86062 Belavia". www.forumavia.ru.
  23. ↑ "Штурм самолета, нейтрализация "террористов" и освобождение "заложников" | Фоторепортаж | Новости Беларуси | Последние новости | Онлайн новости | Мировые новости | БелТА". Belta.by. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  24. ↑ Pravda Canopy of Belarusian Yak-40 burst in air Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.. Published 6 January 2003.
  25. ↑ Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) (4 June 2009). "Final Report of Belavia Flight 1834" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-31.

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