Smartavia, formerly known as Nordavia (until March 2019), is a Russian

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

with its head office in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

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 ...

. It mainly operates scheduled domestic and regional services. Its main bases are Arkhangelsk Airport,

Pulkovo Airport Pulkovo Airport ( rus, links=no, Аэропорт Пулково, p=ˈpuɫkəvə, Location identifier#Russian location identifier, Internal code: ПЛК) is an international airport serving St. Petersburg, Russia. It is the List of the busiest ...

(Saint Petersburg), and

Sheremetyevo International Airport Sheremetyevo International Airport (, , Internal code: ШРМ) is one of four international airports that serve the city of Moscow. It is the busiest airport in Russia and the post-Soviet states, as well as the ninth-busiest airport in Euro ...

, serving

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Smartavia is a

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

. As of February 2025, it is on the List of airlines banned in the European Union.

History

The airline was formed in 1963 as Arkhangelsk United Aviation Squadron () and became AVL Arkhangelsk Airlines () in 1991.

Under Aeroflot

In August 2004,

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 ...

acquired 51% of the airline, with the rest being held by Aviainvest. The company was renamed Aeroflot-Nord, becoming Aeroflot's second regional airline. When the contract with Aeroflot ended on 1 December 2009, the airline operated independently as Nordavia. Because of the bad press the subsidiary received following the Aeroflot Flight 821 disaster, and Russian aviation officials' 15 July 2009 imposition of restrictions (including a ban on international charter tours) on then Aeroflot-Nord flight operations due to insufficient security and bad finances, Aeroflot distanced itself from Nordavia.

Partnership with
NordStar NordStar, officially JSC NordStar Airlines () is a Russian airline based in Norilsk. Its main base is Alykel Airport. It is on the List of airlines banned in the European Union. History NordStar was founded by Norilsk Nickel and was launched ...

In June 2011, Aeroflot sold the airline to

Norilsk Nickel Norilsk Nickel (), or Nornickel, is a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company. Its largest operations are located in the Norilsk–Talnakh area near the Yenisei River in the north of Siberia. It also has holdings in Nikel, Zapo ...

for a US$235 million, but it only costed net $7 million, due to assumption of company's debt. On December 1, 2011, Norilsk Nickel reported that Nordavia was to be merged in Taimyr Air Company. However, the

Federal Antimonopoly Service The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) () is the federal-level executive governmental organ that controls the execution of the antitrust law and related areas. The FAS was established by President Vladimir Putin through Decree #314, ...

blocked the merger of Nordavia with Taimyr Air Company, and Nordavia was ultimately sold to Sergey Kuznetsov, the owner of Red Wings Airlines, in March 2016.

Partnership with Red Wings Airlines

To increase business power, Red Wings Airlines and Nordavia decided to merge. In April 2017, under Red Wings' ownership, it was announced that the airline would change its name to SmartAvia from Q3 2017. In addition to the new brand, the airline planned to also introduce a new livery, still in Nordavia's colors (blue, orange, gray) but with a design that moves away from its Aeroflot ancestry. The new branding was planned to debut on the airline's

Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

aircraft, however these aircraft were instead delivered to Red Wings after the airline decided to continue using its Boeing 737 aircraft, accepting its first Boeing 737-700 in May 2018, by then still retaining its Nordavia name and brand identity. On 20 March 2019, it was announced that the merging of Nordavia with Red Wings airlines was canceled.

Restructuring to Smartavia

Following the cancellation, the airline was re-branded to Smartavia. The first aircraft of the new livery arrived in April 2019, with all existing getting replaced by the end of the year. By 2021, the airline had retired all of its Boeing 737-500s, and in April 2021, the airline began their replacement with new

Airbus A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is an incremental development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' being Greek for "new", as well as an acronym for "new engine option") is based on the Airbus A3 ...

s, officially completing the re-branding into Smartavia and announcing itself as a

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

. On 28 May 2021, during a press conference held in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, with the presentation of new Airbus A320neos previously operated by Mexican carrier

Interjet InterJet was a private jet charter operator in the Greek business aviation market. InterJet was based in Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal ...

, the airline announced a massive order expansion of 40 new Airbus aircraft and plans to phase out all

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 ...

aircraft by 2023 and only operate Airbus aircraft from then on. If the plan were to succeed, the airline was to purchase

Airbus A321neo The Airbus A321neo is a Single-aisle aircraft, single-aisle airliner created by Airbus. The A321neo (''neo'' being an acronym for "new engine option") is developed from the Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo family. It is the longest stretched fusela ...

s by 2024. On 16 September 2021, the airline announced its base expansion plans: by spring 2022, the airline planned to open its new hub at Moscow-Sheremetyevo, as well as to open bases in

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

and

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Smartavia Airlines has

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

s with the following airlines: * Red Wings Airlines

Fleet

, the Smartavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Historical fleet

Smartavia has previously operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

* On 14 September 2008, Aeroflot Flight 821, flown under a combined service agreement with Aeroflot, crashed on approach to Perm Airport,

. All 88 people on board, including six crew members, were killed.

References

External links

* {{IATA members, europe Former Aeroflot divisions Airlines established in 1963 1963 establishments in the Soviet Union Airlines of Russia Airlines banned in the European Union Aviation in Arkhangelsk Oblast Companies based in Arkhangelsk European Regions Airline Association Low-cost carriers