KrasAir or Krasnoyarsk Airlines () was a Russian airline with its head office on the grounds of
Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport
Krasnoyarsk International Airport () , is a major airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, northwest of Krasnoyarsk. , it was the biggest in Russia in passenger traffic.
History
Construction of the airport started in 1970. It opened for operati ...
in
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 ...
. It operated scheduled regional and international passenger services, freight transport, cargo handling and charter services from the main base is
Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport
Krasnoyarsk International Airport () , is a major airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, northwest of Krasnoyarsk. , it was the biggest in Russia in passenger traffic.
History
Construction of the airport started in 1970. It opened for operati ...
, as part of
AiRUnion alliance.
In 2008 Krasair suffered a
liquidity crisis
In financial economics, a liquidity crisis is an acute shortage of ''liquidity''. Liquidity may refer to market liquidity (the ease with which an asset can be converted into a liquid medium, e.g. cash), funding liquidity (the ease with which borrow ...
, and after a string of operational shutdowns, administrative and
strikes, the company ceased operations in October 2008.
History
Privatization
The company traces its roots to the Krasnoyarsk-based
Yenisey
The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean.
Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...
air wing, established by the
Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route
The Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route (), also known as Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (), was a Soviet government organization in charge of the maritime Northern Sea Route, established in January 1932 and dissolved in 1964.
History
The organiz ...
in May, 1934. The air wing eventually differentiated into traditional airline operations, and was as Krasnoyarsk Civil Aviation Directorate (1946–1982) and Krasnoyarsk Aviation Enterprize (1982–1993). In 1993 it was privatized with the state retaining 51% controlling share.
[ Krasair. Quarterly report, Q2 200]
/ref>
AiRUnion
KrasAir was managed by Boris Abramovich (CEO, no relation to Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (born 24 October 1966) is a business oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the primary owner of the private investment com ...
) and his brother Alexander Abramovich (deputy CEO). The Abramovich brothers' aggressive expansion campaign led to the creation of AiRUnion alliance in 2005, the first airline alliance in Russia. It includes KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines
JSC Domodedovo Airlines ( ''OAO Aviakompaniya Domodedovskiye Avialinii'') was an airline with its head office on the grounds of Domodedovo International Airport in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It operated scheduled flights with ...
, Samara Airlines
Samara Airlines was an airline based in Samara, Russia. It operated scheduled and charter flights from Samara to destinations in Russia and other countries (mainly within the CIS) and charter flights to Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Spain, Tur ...
, 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 Air ...
and Sibaviatrans
Sibaviatrans (Joint Stock Company SIAT) was an airline based in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. It operated scheduled and charter passenger and cargo flights from various locations around Russia. It also provided helicopter services. It was a member of AiR ...
and was the third largest domestic carrier in 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 ...
. All of the member airlines were controlled by Krasair management.
In 2005 KrasAir attempted to expand internationally, placing a winning bid in Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
's national carrier Malév privatisation tender. The tender results were initially annulled by Hungarian authorities before finally being sold in February 2007. During 2006 1,118,543 passengers were transported by KrasAir and AiRUnion transported 3,342,815 passengers
KrasAir managers were part of a venture together with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilate ...
to create a new low-cost airline called Sky Express Sky Express may refer to:
* Sky Express (Greece), a Greek airline
* Sky Express (Russia), a defunct Russian airline
{{disambiguation ...
. This airline was to be based at Vnukovo Airport
Vnukovo, formally Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport (named after Andrei Tupolev) ( rus, links=no, Внуково, p=ˈvnukəvə) , is a dual-runway international airport located in Vnukovo District, southwest of the centre of Moscow, ...
and fly initially to domestic routes, using as many as 44 Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
-300/500s. The airline's airfares were to be 30-40% cheaper than other carriers.
2008 crisis
In June and August 2008 Krasair and AiRUnion fleets were grounded as the fuel suppliers denied further credit fuel to debt-ridden airlines. In June, Krasair and its principal supplier, Krasnoyarsk-based Sibir Avia Service, reached an agreement to resume fuel supply on condition that Krasair debt did not exceed 100 million roubles.[KrasAir to Have Fuel at Double Price, Kommersant, June 20, 2008]
By the middle of August the debt rose to 223 million roubles, and on August 19 Sibir Avia stopped refuelling, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in airports. Krasair blamed the crisis on rising oil prices. In first six months of 2008, fuel accounted for 54% of Krasair costs. Flights were also grounded in Moscow and Omsk
Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
airports.
Analysts predicted that the fuel crisis would be resolved through intervention of Rostechhologii, a newly formed state conglomerate that controls substantial shares of AiRUnion companies, including Krasair; alternatively, the state may prefer to complete formal bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
process and restructure AiRUnion assets under a new management. On August 24, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
specifically addressed the problem of the grounded airline, authorizing Sergey Ivanov to issue state funds and enable further operations.
On August 26, media reports appeared to indicate that bankruptcy was inevitable. Russian Technologies, the principal shareholder, refused to pay AiRUnion's bills and its fleet remained grounded. The same day, the Russian Ministry of Transportation negotiated with 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 ...
, Transaero
Transaero (), officially ''OJSC Transaero Airlines'' () was a Russian airline that operated scheduled and charter flights to over 150 domestic and international destinations. Transaero's main hubs were Moscow Vnukovo Airport and Saint Peters ...
, S7 Airlines
S7 Airlines, legal name JSC Siberia Airlines (, "АО Aviakompania Sibir"), is an airline headquartered in Ob, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, with offices in Moscow. As of 2008, it was Russia's largest domestic airline, with its main bases at Dom ...
and Rossiya about taking over the routes previously operated by Krasair.
On October 27, Krasair was unable to fly most of their aircraft due to a pilots' strike as a refusal by refuelling companies to extend credit to the airline. It was announced that Krasair would cease to exist on November 1, 2008.
Destinations
Fleet
Throughout their history, KrasAir operated the following types of aircraft:
References
External links
KrasAir
(Archive)
KrasAir Fleet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasair
Companies based in Krasnoyarsk
Former Aeroflot divisions
Airlines established in 1993
Defunct airlines of Russia
Airlines disestablished in 2008