Azur Air (), formerly ''Katekavia'' and stylised as azurair, is a

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

and former

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Initially it was based in

Krasnoyarsk Cheremshanka Airport Krasnoyarsk Cheremshanka Airport () is a domestic airport in the Krasnoyarsk Krai, situated northwest of Krasnoyarsk. It became the base of a civil defense helicopter detachment in 1982, featuring Mil Mi-6 and Mil Mi-8 aircraft. In addition to ...

, the domestic airport serving

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, and its destinations were all within

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

. Nowadays, it mainly serves leisure destinations such as the route Moscow to

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

, offering an all-business class charter. It is currently on the list of airlines banned in the European Union.

History

Katekavia

The airline started operations in 1995 and operates regional flights out of

and Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo Airport. The airline also operates charter services to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

. It carried around 122,000 passengers in 2009, and in 2010, started to acquire larger aircraft, mainly the

Tupolev Tu-134 The Tupolev Tu-134 (NATO reporting name: Crusty) is a twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliner built in the Soviet Union for short and medium-haul routes from 1966 to 1989. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain oth ...

. As of 3 April 2014, it had three Tupolev Tu-134s. In April 2014, the airline commenced scheduled flights between larger Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo Airport and further cities in

Surgut Surgut ( rus, Сургу́т, p=sʊrˈgut; Khanty: Сәрханӆ, ''Sərhanł, Сө̆ркут, sörkut'') 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 fe ...

and

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

. The airline received international media and social media attention in 2014, when a video emerged of passengers on a scheduled flight from

Igarka Igarka () is a town in Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of the Arctic Circle. Igarka is a monotown established around a sawmill which processed timber logged in the basin of the Yenisei River for export. Up to 19 ...

disembarking pre-departure to push their plane in temperatures of minus 52 degrees Celsius after its chassis froze.

Azur Air

In 2015, Katekavia handed over its fleet to

Turukhan Airlines LLC Turukhan Airlines () is an airline based in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. It is banned from flying in the EU. History Established in 1997 as a subsidiary of Yeniseyskij Meridian airlines, it became independent in 2001. It operates regional scheduled ...

. Katekavia was rebranded as a leisure carrier and renamed Azur Air. In February 2018, the Russian aviation authority RosAviatsiya announced that Azur Air faces a suspension of its operational licence by 20 March 2018 if the carrier does not resolve alleged safety violations by then. As this would lead to the shut down of all flight operations, Russian tourism agency RosTourism advised tour operators to not sell tickets on Azur Air for the time being. On 8 April 2022, the US Department of Commerce restricted flights on aircraft manufactured in the US for

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

Aviastar Aviastar may refer to: * Aviastar (Indonesia), Indonesian now-defunct airline * Aviastar-TU Aviastar-TU Airlines () is a Russian cargo charter airline which operates principally out of Ramenskoye Airport in Moscow, Russia. Its headquarters is ...

, Azur Air,

Belavia Belavia, formally Belavia Belarusian Airlines (; ), is the flag carrier of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk. The state-owned company had, as of 2007, 1,017 employees. Belavia serves a network of routes between Commonwealth of Independent States, ...

, Rossiya and

Utair Utair () () is a Russian airline with its head office at Khanty-Mansiysk Airport while its hubs are at Surgut International Airport and Vnukovo International Airport. It operates scheduled domestic and some international passenger services, sch ...

. It seems the US wants to reclaim ownership of the intellectual property. On 16 June, the US broadened its restrictions on the six airlines after violations of the sanctions regime were detected. The effect of the restrictions is to ground the US-manufactured part of its fleet. As of July 2022, Azur Air was forced to drastically reduce its international network due to sanctions against Russia as well as the recall of several aircraft by their lessors in accordance with these.

Fleet

Current fleet

, Azur Air operates an all-

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

fleet composed of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Azur Air additionally formerly operated the following aircraft types: *

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

Boeing 737-900ER The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it has been pr ...

Boeing 777-300ER The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long haul, long-range Wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the mo ...

Accidents and incidents

*On 3 August 2010, Katekavia Flight 9357, an

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by the Kyiv ...

, crashed on approach to

Igarka Airport Igarka Airport () is an airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of Igarka. It accommodates medium-sized airliners. The facility is fully paved and well-maintained, but is isolated on an island and depends on ice crossing or ferry se ...

, killing twelve people. The crash was caused by pilot error. As a result of the crash, the Russian government started to investigate how Katekavia operated their flights. * In January 2023, a

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

with flight registration RA-73071 and flight number AZV2463 from

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places * Perm, Russia, a city in Russia **Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 ** Perm Governorate, an administr ...

, Russia, to

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, India, was affected by an e-mail bomb threat causing it to be diverted to

Termez Airport Termez International Airport is an airport serving Termez, a city in southern Uzbekistan. It was used as a base for German Air Force C-160 "Transalls" which were part of the German ISAF-contingent. Airlines and destinations See also *List of ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

for inspection while flying over

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

airspace. The threat was eventually determined to be false, and the flight, which carried 238 passengers including two infants and seven crew members, was allowed to continue to its destination. This incident followed a bomb threat against a flight from Moscow to Goa which led to an emergency landing at

Jamnagar Airport Jamnagar Airport, officially known as Civil Enclave Jamnagar, is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. It is owned by the Indian Air Force and also permits both commercial as well as priv ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. * On 5 February 2023, a

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

with flight number ZF3774 from

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, to

Krasnoyarsk, Russia Krasnoyarsk is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a population of over 1.1 million. Krasnoyarsk is an i ...

, aborted take-off after the aircraft's tire exploded.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Airlines of Russia Companies based in Krasnoyarsk Airlines established in 1995 1995 establishments in Russia Airlines banned in the European Union