When choosing an air carrier, three factors play a major role: comfort, flight cost and airline reliability. To help you navigate the large number of offers on the air transportation market, we have compiled Russian airlines rating 2019 on flight safety.
It includes the top 10 airlines, selected according to:
- World Airlines Safety Index compiled by the German audit firm Jacdec.
- World Airlines Rankings 2019 AirlineRatings.
- Statistics 2018-19 by the number of aircraft and their novelty among Russian airlines.
- Customer ratings on various review sites.
10. Red Wings Airlines
AirlineRatings safety rating - none.
The former "Airlines 400" has established itself as a reliable Russian airline and at one time even served as the carrier of the Russian national football team. However, in 2012, the Tu-204 crashed at Vnukovo airport, after which the Federal Air Transport Agency suspended the certificate of Red Wings Airlines as the operator of the crashed aircraft.
5 years after the renewal of the license, the company had another incident. In 2018, the Tu-204-100's engine caught fire. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Ufa, none of the passengers and personnel of the airliner was injured.
Currently, Red Wings Airlines has 12 ships at its disposal, with an average age of 16.4 years.
9. Nordwind Airlines
AirlineRatings safety rating - none.
According to the Federal Air Transport Agency for 2017, Nordwind Airlines was in ninth place in the list of the largest airlines in Russia. The number of people who used its services exceeded 3.5 million. Three significant advantages of this carrier are low prices, excellent work of flight attendants and the availability of soft drinks.
An incident is associated with one of the Nordwind Airlines aircraft, after which the Federal Air Transport Agency banned all Russian civil aircraft from flying over Syria until the end of the civil war. In 2013, pilots of a plane flying from Sharm el Sheikh to Kazan noticed the explosions of two missiles fired from the ground (presumably). Fortunately, the plane was not damaged.
The airline's fleet includes 24 aircraft, the average age of which is over 12 years.
8. Yamal
AirlineRatings safety rating - none.
One of the most reliable Russian air carriers in 2014 was awarded as the best helicopter operator, the best domestic passenger carrier and the best passenger air carrier on regional routes.
As of the beginning of 2019, there are not too many aircraft in the Yamal fleet - 37 - but they are quite young, on average 11 years old.
Passengers speak positively about the professionalism of the pilots and praise the good work of the staff. However, Yamal is criticized for frequent delays and cancellations of flights.
7. Aurora
AirlineRatings safety rating - none.
According to the user rating (reviews collected by the Tutu.ru service), Aurora was in fourth place, thanks to the skill of the pilots, the friendliness and skill of the flight attendants, punctuality and the ratio of price and quality of services.
Aurora specializes in flights between the cities of the Far East and Siberia, but does not neglect more exotic destinations such as Korea, Japan and China.
The fleet of one of the best Russian airlines for 2019 has 21 airliners, their average age is 13.8 years.
6. UTair
AirlineRatings safety rating - 6/7
In 2017, the Federal Air Transport Agency named UTair the most punctual airline in Russia. 98.8% of flights were operated according to the schedule.
Currently UTair serves over 150 destinations (60 of them are available only to the customers of this air carrier) and has a fleet of 65 aircraft. Among them there is Sukhoi Superjet 100, which serve a number of directions from Vnukovo (to Kazan Nalchik, Arkhangelsk and Ulyanovsk). The average age of the aircraft is 16.9 years.
5. Ural Airlines
AirlineRatings safety rating - 7/7
It is the fifth largest air carrier in the Russian Federation and currently the only airline in the Urals region that can offer customers the choice of departing from two Moscow airports at once - Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo.
Ural Airlines' fleet includes 47 aircraft and 19 more have been ordered. The average age of aircraft is 14.2 years.
4. Victory
AirlineRatings safety rating - 7/7
Even capital Vrungel said: "As you name a yacht, so it will float." And justifying its name, Pobeda Airlines is successfully making its way in the stormy sea of Russian business.
This subsidiary of Aeroflot has chosen the niche of low-cost transportation, and in this field it feels very comfortable. As evidenced by the huge passenger traffic, the cheapest airline in Russia carried 7 million people in 2018 - and impressive revenue, which in 9 months of 2018 amounted to 26.4 billion rubles.
Currently, the Pobeda fleet has 23 aircraft and 27 more have been ordered. The average age of the airliners in operation is 3.7 years.
3. Russia
AirlineRatings safety rating - 7/7
One of the "daughters" of the leader in the rating of the best Russian airlines is located in the Northern capital and performs more than half of all air transportation from its hub airport Pulkovo. Its geography of flights includes over 140 destinations, including the Far East and Crimea.
Passengers praise this airline for the punctuality and excellent condition of the aircraft.
At the disposal of "Russia" is 63 aircraft, the average age of which is 13.1 years.
2. S7 Airlines
AirlineRatings safety rating - 7/7
One of the two "Russian women" included in the top 100 most reliable airlines in the world according to Jacdec. This Russian air carrier appeared in 1992 (originally under the name "Siberia") and quickly became one of the best European airlines. And these are not unfounded statements, but the opinion of the British agency SKYTRAX, which in 2013-2016 included S7 Airlines in the three best airlines in Eastern Europe and in the five best regional European airlines.
In January 2019, there were 95 airliners in the S7 Airlines fleet. Their average age is 10.3 years.
1. Aeroflot is the best airline in Russia
AirlineRatings safety rating - 7/7
The second and last representative of Russia, awarded a place in the list of the safest airlines according to Jacdec. This air carrier is constantly heard, because its history began in the days of the USSR (since 1923); and for many of the older generation there is no alternative to Aeroflot.
Aeroflot has an extensive fleet of aircraft - 253 airliners - and at the same time is very young. The average aircraft age is 4.3 years. And by 2020, the best Russian airline plans to expand its fleet by another 184 aircraft, with 126 of them being the latest Russian-made Sukhoi SuperJet-100.
| Airline | IOSA audit | EU audit | No disasters | FAA approval | ICAO audit | Safety rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeroflot | Yes | Yes | > 10 years | Yes | Yes | 7/7 |
| S7 | Yes | Yes | > 10 years | Yes | Yes | 7/7 |
| Russia | Yes | Yes | > 10 years | Yes | Yes | 7/7 |
| Ural Airlines | Yes | Yes | > 10 years | Yes | Yes | 7/7 |
| Victory | Yes | Yes | > 10 years | Yes | Yes | 7/7 |