AiRUnion was a Russian airline alliance. It was the first airline alliance ever established in Russia. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoyed a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing,

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer program benefits, shared airport lounges, reducing costs, and sharing best practices. The airline and member carriers have since gone bankrupt in 2008. With government sponsorship, the alliance was planned to be resurrected as Rossiya as of 2008. However, this never took place.

History

This alliance was established as ''AirBridge''. In October 2004 Russian airlines KrasAir and Domodedovo Airlines set up a joint management company called AirBridge. KrasAir is owned by the city government of Krasnoyarsk (51%) and AirBridge management (49%) (Boris Abramovich -

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and his brother, Alexander Abramovich - deputy CEO, no relation to Roman Abramovich). While retaining separate legal identities the airlines were planning to integrate their networks and services, as they are largely complementary. In April 2007 AirBridge had purchased Malév airline from Hungarian government. Boris Abramovich is also a CEO of AirUnion alliance. The Abramovich brothers' aggressive expansion campaign led to the creation of AiRUnion alliance in 2005, the first airline alliance in Russia. It included KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines,

Omskavia Omskavia (Russian:ОмскА́виа) was an airline based in Omsk, Russia. It operated domestic and international scheduled and charter, passenger, cargo and mail services, as well as aircraft maintenance. Its main bases were Tsentralny A ...

, Samara Airlines and Sibaviatrans. On May 3, 2007 the five members of the AirUnion alliance were rolled into a similarly named holding company, OAO AirUnion, in which the Russian government holds no less than 45% of the shares. Although Malév was a Oneworld member, in early 2007 AiRUnion began a codeshare with Austrian Airlines and

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

in its strategic expansion into European routes. AiRUnion was competing with S7 Airlines to become the second largest domestic carrier in Russia in 2007, after

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

. AiRUnion carried 4.9 million passengers in 2006 compared to 8.75 million for Aeroflot.

Member airlines

Premium status

AiRUnion had one premium level, Premium, based on a customer's tier status in a frequent flyer program. Each member and regional airline recognized AiRUnion Premium status, with only a few exceptions, mainly pertaining to airport lounge access. Status has no specific requirements; membership is based solely on the frequent flyer programs of individual member airlines. Benefits of AiRUnion Premium membership included free tickets, transportation of additional luggage and discounts of alliance program participants.

Destinations

Russia

* Abakan * Barnaul (

Barnaul Airport Barnaul Gherman Titov International Airport (russian: Международный аэропорт Барнаул имени Германа Титова) (sometimes referred to as Barnaul West or Mikhaylovka) is a major airport in Altai Krai, Russ ...

) *

Baykit Baykit (russian: Байки́т) is a rural locality in Evenkiysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. Population: Transportation Baykit is served by the Baykit Airport. Climate Baykit has a subarcti ...

(

Baykit Airport Baykit Airport (russian: Аэропорт Байкит) is an airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and ...

) * Belgorod (

Belgorod Airport Belgorod International Airport (russian: Международный Аэропорт Белгород) is an airport in Russia located 4 km north of Belgorod. It services narrow-body airliners (such as the Tupolev Tu-154, Tupolev Tu-204, I ...

) * Blagoveshchensk ( Ignatyevo Airport) * Bodaybo *

Bratsk Bratsk ( rus, Братск, p=bratsk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Etymology The name sounds like the Russian word for "brother" ("", '' ...

(

Bratsk Airport Bratsk Airport (russian: Аэропорт Братск) is an airport in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia located north of Bratsk. It is a mixed use airfield, providing 32 parking spaces for medium-sized airliners. Bratsk airport serves as a diversion ai ...

) * Chita ( Kadala Airport) * Chelyabinsk ( Chelyabinsk Balandino Airport) * Igarka (

Igarka Airport Igarka Airport () is an airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia located south of Igarka Igarka (russian: Ига́рка) is a town in Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of the Arctic Circle. Igarka is a monotown ...

) *

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

( Irkutsk International Airport) * Kazan ( Kazan Airport) *

Kemerovo Kemerovo ( rus, Ке́мерово, p=ˈkʲemʲɪrəvə) is an industrial city and the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Iskitimka and Tom Rivers, in the major coal mining region of the Kuznetsk Ba ...

( Kemerovo Airport) *

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

( Khabarovsk Novy Airport) *

Komsomolsk-na-Amure Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐɐˈmurʲə) is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur River in the Russian Far East. It is located ...

* Krasnodar ( Pashkovsky Airport) * Krasnoyarsk (

Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport Krasnoyarsk International Airport (russian: Международный аэропорт Красноярск) , is a major airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, northwest of Krasnoyarsk. , it was the biggest in Russia in passenger traffic. Hist ...

) * Mineralnye Vody ( Mineralnye Vody Airport) * Motygino * Moscow (

Domodedovo International Airport Domodedovo may refer to: * Domodedovo International Airport, an airport in Russia *Domodedovo (town), a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia *Domodedovo District, an administrative raion of Moscow Oblast, Russia *Domodedovo Airlines, a defunct Russian airl ...

) * Norilsk ( Norilsk Alykel Airport) * Nizhnevartovsk ( Nizhnevartovsk Airport) * Nizhny Novgorod ( Nizhny Novgorod Strigino Airport) *

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

( Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport) * Novy Urengoy ( Novy Urengoy) *

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

(

Tsentralny Airport : ''Tsentraly may refer, less commonly, to airports in Riga, Moscow, Saratov, or Orenburg.'' Tsentralny Airport (russian: Аэропорт Центральный ) is an airport in Omsk Oblast, Russia, located 5 km southwest of Omsk. It ...

) * Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport) * Bor ( Podkamennaya Tunguska Airport) *

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

( Rostov-on-Don Airport) *

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

( Samara Kurumoch Airport) *

Severo-Yeniseysk Severo-Yeniseysky (russian: Се́веро-Енисе́йский) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Severo-Yeniseysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Population: Climate Severo-Yeniseysky has subarctic climate The su ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

(

Adler-Sochi International Airport Sochi International Airport (russian: Международный Аэропорт Сочи; ) is an airport located in Adler District of the resort city of Sochi, on the coast of the Black Sea in the federal subject of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. So ...

) * Saint Petersburg (

Pulkovo Airport Pulkovo ( rus, links=no, Пулково, p=ˈpulkəvə) is an international airport serving St. Petersburg, Russia. It consists of one terminal which is located south of the city centre. The airport serves as a airline hub, hub for Rossiya Ai ...

) *

Surgut Surgut ( rus, Сургу́т, p=sʊrˈgut; Khanty: Сәрханӆ, ''Sərhanł'') is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River near its junction with the Irtysh River. It is one of the few cities in Russia to be lar ...

( Surgut Airport) *

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

( Bogashevo Airport) * Tura ( Tura Airport) * Turukhansk (

Turukhansk Airport Turukhansk Airport is an airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia located 2 km west of Turukhansk Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Kras ...

) * Ulan-Ude ( Ulan-Ude Airport) * Ufa ( Ufa Airport) * Vladivostok ( Vladivostok International Airport) * Voronezh ( Chertovitskoye Airport) * Yakutsk ( Yakutsk Airport) * Yekaterinburg ( Koltsovo International Airport) * Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ( Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport)

Asia

Central Asia

* Kazakhstan **

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

( Almaty International Airport) ** Karaganda ** Kostanai ** Shymkent * Kyrgyzstan **

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

( Manas International Airport) * Tajikistan ** Dushanbe ( Dushanbe Airport) ** Khujand * Uzbekistan **

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

( Bukhara Airport) **

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

** Tashkent ( Yuzhny Airport)

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

( Heydar Aliyev International Airport) **

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡� ...

** Nakhichevan City

Europe

* Germany ** Cologne ( Cologne Bonn Airport) ** Frankfurt am Main (

Frankfurt International Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres. ...

) ** Hannover ( Hanover/Langenhagen International Airport) **

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

(

Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...

) * Portugal **

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

( Portela Airport) * Ukraine ** Kyiv (

Boryspil Airport Boryspil International Airport ( uk, Міжнародний аеропорт «Бориспіль») is an international airport in Boryspil, east of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is Ukraine's largest airport, serving 65% of its passenger ...

)

References

External links

AiRUnion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airunion Airline alliances