Smartavia, formerly known as Aeroflot Nord (until December 2009), and Nordavia (until March 2019), is a Russian low-cost airline with its head office in Arkhangelsk, Russia."Contact Us ." Smartavia. Retrieved on 29 June 2010. "Legal address: Russian Federation, 163053, Arkhangelsk, Talagi Airport." – "Контакты ." Address in Russian: "163053, г. Архангельск, Аэропорт "Архангельск"." It mainly operates scheduled domestic and regional services. Its main bases are Arkhangelsk Airport, Pulkovo Airport (Saint Petersburg), and Sheremetyevo International Airport, serving Moscow. Smartavia is a joint-stock company.
As of February 2025, it is on the List of airlines banned in the European Union.
History
The airline was formed in 1963 as Arkhangelsk United Aviation Squadron () and became AVL Arkhangelsk Airlines () in 1991.
Under Aeroflot In August 2004, Aeroflot acquired 51% of the airline, with the rest being held by Aviainvest. The company was renamed Aeroflot-Nord, becoming Aeroflot's second regional airline.Flight International 27 March 2007
When the contract with Aeroflot ended on 1 December 2009, the airline operated independently as Nordavia. Because of the bad press the subsidiary received following the Aeroflot Nord Flight 821 disaster, and Russian aviation officials' 15 July 2009 imposition of restrictions (including a ban on international charter tours) on then Aeroflot-Nord flight operations due to insufficient security and bad finances, Aeroflot distanced itself from Nordavia.
Partnership with NordStar In June 2011, Aeroflot sold the airline to Norilsk Nickel for a US$235 million, reduced to net $7 million, due to assumption of company's debt. On December 1, 2011, Norilsk Nickel reported that Nordavia was to be merged in Taimyr Air Company. However, the Federal Antimonopoly Service blocked the merger of Nordavia with Taimyr Air Company, and Nordavia was ultimately sold to Sergey Kuznetsov, the owner of Red Wings Airlines, in March 2016.Growth for Red Wings Airliner World June 2016 page 10
Partnership with Red Wings Airlines To increase business power, Red Wings Airlines and Nordavia decided to merge. In April 2017, under Red Wings' ownership, it was announced that the airline would change its name to Smartavia from Q3 2017. In addition to the new brand, the airline planned to also introduce a new livery, still in Nordavia's colors (blue, orange, gray) but with a design that moves away from its Aeroflot ancestry. The new branding was planned to debut on the airline's Airbus A320-200 aircraft, however these aircraft were instead delivered to Red Wings after the airline decided to continue using its Boeing 737 aircraft, accepting its first Boeing 737-700 in May 2018, by then still retaining its Nordavia name and brand identity. On 20 March 2019, it was announced that the merging of Nordavia with Red Wings airlines was canceled.
Restructuring to Smartavia Following the cancellation, the airline was re-branded to Smartavia. The first aircraft of the new livery arrived in April 2019, with all existing getting replaced by the end of the year. By 2021, the airline had retired all of its Boeing 737-500s, and in April 2021, the airline began their replacement with new Airbus A320neos, officially completing the re-branding into Smartavia and announcing itself as a low-cost carrier.
On 28 May 2021, during a press conference held in Kaliningrad, with the presentation of new Airbus A320neos previously operated by Mexican carrier Interjet, the airline announced a massive order expansion of 40 new Airbus aircraft and plans to phase out all Boeing 737 aircraft by 2023 and only operate Airbus aircraft from then on. If the plan were to succeed, the airline was to purchase Airbus A321neos by 2024.
On 16 September 2021, the airline announced its base expansion plans: by spring 2022, the airline planned to open its new hub at Moscow-Sheremetyevo, as well as to open bases in Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Samara and Sochi.
Destinations
Codeshare agreements Smartavia Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airline:
Red Wings Airlines
Fleet
, Smartavia operates the following aircraft:
+ Smartavia fleetAircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotesJYTotalAirbus A320neo2——180180Boeing 737-700 2——142142Boeing 737-800 8——189189The first aircraft to wear SmartAvia livery.Total12—
Historical fleet
Smartavia has previously operated the following aircraft:ЗАО «Аэрофлот-Норд» приобрело авиакомпанию «Архангельские воздушные линии» aeroflot.ru. Retrieved 5 May 2010.История авиакомпании vk.com. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
+ Smartavia historical fleet Aircraft Introduced Retired NotesAntonov An-2419912008Boeing 737-30020082012Was transferred to NordStar in 2012.Boeing 737-50020062020Replaced by first Airbus A320neo order, one crashed as Flight 821.Tupolev Tu-134A19912008Replaced by Boeing 737-500.Tupolev Tu-154B-219912009Replaced by Boeing 737-500.
Accidents and incidents
On 14 September 2008, Aeroflot Flight 821, flown under a combined service agreement with Aeroflot,"September 14, 2008 ." Aeroflot. Accessed September 14, 2008. crashed on approach to Perm Airport, Russia. All 88 people on board, including six crew members, were killed.
References
External links