Babyflot is the informal name given to any airline in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

created in the early 1990s from the dissolution of

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 ...

as part of the breakup of the Soviet Union. The word is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''baby'' and ''Aeroflot'' (compare

Baby Bells A Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) was a corporate entity created as result of the antitrust lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice against the Western Electric Company and American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 194 ...

). There were between 300 and 800 Babyflots, with many being single-plane operations, while international routes were operated separately as Aeroflot—Russian International Airlines (ARIA). By 1994, many Babyflots were bankrupt, hampered by a lack of capital and a poor economy, which in turn led to abysmal safety records. These safety issues had become so endemic to the "Babyflot" airlines that in 1994 the International Air Transport Association took the unusual step of recommending trains for people traveling the former Soviet Union, as it was considered the least life-threatening form of conveyance. In 1998, Russia had 315 airlines but expected the number to drop to 8 federal air carriers and 40 to 45 regional airlines by 2000 as the government began restricting licensing and certification and bring air-safety standards into compliance with international standards.

List of notable Babyflots

Some Babyflots are now

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

s of former Soviet countries, such as Uzbekistan Airlines.

References

External links

Russia Says 'Babyflot' Era is Over
'' Moscow Times''. Saturday January 17, 1998.
S7: Bringing Siberia Airlines In From The ColdDK World Reports RUSSIA
*https://russianplanes.net/Aeroflot {{Authority control Aeroflot Former Aeroflot divisions Airlines of Russia

List of notable Babyflots

References

Further reading

External links