Belavia

Belavia
Белавія
Белавиа

IATA ICAO Call sign B2 BRU BELARUS AVIA
Founded	5 March 1996
Hubs	Minsk National Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Belavia Leader
Fleet size	13
Destinations	23[1]
Parent company	Government of Belarus
Headquarters	Minsk, Belarus
Key people	Igor Nikolaevich Cherginets, Director-general
Revenue	Br 520,000,000 (2020)[2]
Net income	– Br 92,000,000 (2020)
Website	belavia.by

Belavia, formally Belavia Belarusian Airlines (Belarusian: ААТ «Авіякампанія «Белавія»; Russian: ОАО «Авиакомпания «Белавиа»), is the flag carrier of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk.^[3] The state-owned company had, as of 2007, 1,017 employees.^[4] Belavia serves a network of routes between Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as some Middle East destinations, from its base at Minsk National Airport.^[4]

Following the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident on 23 May 2021, the airline has been banned from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

History

Early years

Belavia's previous logo (used until 2016)

Belavia's head office in Minsk

A former Belavia Tupolev TU-154M in 2006

On 7 November 1933, the first Belarusian air terminal opened in Minsk. In the next spring, 3 Po-2 aircraft landed in Minsk. They became the first aircraft of the Belarusian air fleet. In 1936 the first regular air route between Minsk and Moscow was established. In the summer of 1940, the Belarusian civil aviation group was officially founded.

Development during the 2000s

Between 2003 and 2009, the airline saw its passenger numbers double and in 2009 handled just under 700,000 customers.^[5]

Three leased Bombardier CRJ 100 aircraft were introduced on regional services from Minsk. The first one was delivered in February 2007, with the other two later in 2007. They directly replaced the aging Antonov An-24 and Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft.^[6] It was looking to lease two Bombardier CRJ-700s in 2010. Belavia had also planned to retire its remaining Tupolev Tu-154Ms by 2011 following the retirement of its last Tupolev Tu-134 in summer 2009 which was replaced by an ex-FlyLAL Boeing 737-500. On 27 June 2014, an order was announced for three Boeing 737-800 aircraft to be acquired directly by Belavia. The first of these was delivered in August 2016.^[7]

In August 2016, Belavia received their first aircraft with their new livery. This is the first re-branding since the company's founding in 1996 on its 20 years anniversary. The new livery was applied a brand new Boeing 737-800. The much newer 737s replaced the aging Tupolev Tu-154s. On 1 October 2016, Belavia retired their two remaining Tupolev Tu-154s from scheduled services as one of the last airlines worldwide to do so.^[8]

In 2019, the company employed nearly 1,900 people, and generated a turnover of 374 million euros with an operating result of 49 million euros. During this year it carried almost 4 million passengers, an increase of more than 15% compared to the 2018 figure.^[9]

Several employees who participated in 2020 Belarusian protests were forced to leave their jobs.^[10]

Sanctions from 2021

On 24 May 2021, the British government suspended Belavia's operating permit in response to the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident.^[11] The European Union and Ukraine subsequently banned Belarusian airliners from entering their airspace or using their airports, effectively banning Belavia which led to the suspension of vast parts of their route network.^[12][13]

Also in 2021, Belavia was accused of orchestrating the influx of illegal migrants during the Belarus–European Union border crisis.^[14] In September 2021 it has been reported that Belavia might face to lose the majority of its current fleet as its lessors might be no longer allowed to lease them out to Belarusian airlines as part of new embargoes.^[15] At this point Belavia owned 18 smaller, older aircraft, but had rented several modern jets from Western companies, with the Irish AerCap with six and the Danish Nordic Aviation Capital with seven aircraft being the most important suppliers.^[16] On 16 November, the European Union confirmed the termination of all aircraft leases to Belarus by European lessors, which forces the airline to return half of their current fleet on short notice.^[17][18]

On 2 December 2021, Belavia was added to the sanctions list of the European Union.^[19] Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on 20 December.^[20] On 8 April 2022, the US Department of Commerce restricted flights on Belarusian owned or operated aircraft manufactured in the US along with Aeroflot, Aviastar, Azur Air, Rossiya and Utair from flying into Belarus or Russia.^[21] On 16 June 2022 the US broadened its restrictions on Belavia after violations of the sanctions' regime were detected. The effect of the restrictions is to ground the US-manufactured part of its fleet.^[21]

In August 2023, the United States added Belavia to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.^[22]

In February 2024, Grodno Aviakompania, the only other passenger operator of the country, was merged and incorporated into Belavia by decree from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.^[23]

Destinations

Main article: List of Belavia destinations

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Belavia operated flights to Asia, Europe, and Africa from its base at Minsk National Airport. In addition to scheduled destinations listed here, Belavia operates charter flights to leisure destinations and VIP charters. On the eve of the Ryanair Flight 4978 forced takedown incident, it served one domestic destination and 54 international destinations in 32 countries. As a result of the subsequent ban on Belarusian airliners entering the EU, UK and Ukrainian airspace, the airline is effectively stripped off all but twenty of these destinations: owing to the geographical constraints, access to Chișinău (Moldova), Kaliningrad (Russia), and Belgrade (Serbia) has become de facto impossible, despite these three non-EU member states not having issued any independent travel bans on Belavia.^[24] On 28 May 2021, the airline confirmed the cancellation of flights that would otherwise be forced to pass through restricted airspace as well as their ongoing efforts to reroute the Istanbul, Turkey, connection, up to this point handled using a straight route over Ukraine, Moldova, Romania as well as Bulgaria's territorial waters.^[25]

As of November 2023, the airline serves 11 countries on 22 routes.^[1][26]

Codeshare agreements

Belavia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of May 2022:^[27]

• airBaltic
• Air France
• Austrian Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• Finnair
• KLM
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Motor Sich Airlines
• S7 Airlines
• Ukraine International Airlines

Fleet

Current fleet

A Belavia Boeing 737-300

A Belavia Boeing 737-800

Belavia Embraer 195 in the airline's retro livery

As of September 2024^[update], the Belavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:^{[citation needed]}

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			B	E	Total
Boeing 737-300	2	—	—	148	148
Boeing 737-800	6	—	—	189	189
Boeing 737 MAX 8	1	—	12	162	174
Bombardier CRJ200	1	—	—			VIP Version used by Belarusian Government
Embraer 175	1	—	12	64	76
Embraer 195	4	—	11	104	115	EW-400PO in HC Dinamo Minsk livery[28]
Total	15	—

Historic fleet

Belavia Retired Fleet^[29]

Aircraft	Notes
Antonov An-10
Antonov An-24
Antonov An-26
Boeing 737-500	Phased-out in 2021, sold-off in 2021–23^[citation needed]
Bombardier CRJ-100ER	Phased-out in January 2019, on sale in 2024^[citation needed]
Bombardier CRJ-200ER	Phased-out in 2020^[citation needed]
Embraer 195-E2	Returned to lessor[30]
Ilyushin Il-86	EW-86062,^[citation needed] ex СССР-86062, then RA-86062 to Atlant-Soyuz Airlines;[31]^[verification needed] Was used in 1994 to 1996 on charter routes to China and United States.^[citation needed]
Tupolev Tu-124
Tupolev Tu-134A
Tupolev Tu-154B
Tupolev Tu-154М
Tupolev Tu-154B2	One used as training mock-up[32]
Yakovlev Yak-40

Incidents and accidents

• On 6 January 2003, a Yakovlev Yak-40 suffered a shattered windshield during a flight, en route to Prague. Two Czech Air Force fighters accompanied the plane to a safe landing in Ruzyně International Airport.^[33]
• On 14 February 2008, Belavia Flight 1834, a Bombardier CRJ100ER en route from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk, hit its left wing on the runway during takeoff from Zvartnots International Airport, subsequently crashing on the ground, flipping over and coming to a stop inverted near the runway. All 18 passengers and 3 crew members managed to escape the aircraft before it erupted into flames, partly due to the timely response of the fire and rescue crew at the airport. The main cause of the crash was icing contamination leading to a stall of the left wing.^[34]

References

1. "Belavia on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
2. "Доля государства в уставном фонде эмитента" [The state’s share in the issuer’s authorized capital] (PDF). Retrieved 31 May 2024.
3. "Belavia website: Contacts". En.belavia.by. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
4. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. pp. 84–85.
5. "Belavia now serving 32 destinations from Minsk; Stockholm and Tehran latest additions to growing network". anna.aero Airline Route News & Analysis.
6. Airliner World, February 2007
7. "Another NG for Belavia". Airliner World (October 2016): 8.
8. "Belarus's Belavia ends scheduled Tu-154M operations".
9. "2019 Belavia Annual Report" (PDF). balavia.by. 19 March 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 September 2020.
10. Бывшая сотрудница «Белавиа»: «В Жодинском ИВС нас называли проститутками и террористами»
11. "UK's Raab says Lukashenko must be held to account for jet incident". Reuters. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
12. "EU imposes new economic sanctions on Belarus over 'hijacked' flight". The Guardian. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
13. "Ukrainian airlines not allowed to transit through Belarus airspace - minister". Reuters. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
14. O'Leary, Naomi (18 October 2021). "Irish leasing firms under pressure over alleged use of aircraft to traffic migrants". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
15. Eiselin, Stefan (2 September 2021). "Belavia droht Großteil der Flotte zu verlieren" [Belavia is in danger of losing most of its fleet]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 9 March 2024.
16. Kiani-Kreß, Rüdiger (20 October 2021). "Wer Lukaschenko seine Flüchtlings-Flugzeuge leiht" [Who lends Lukashenko his refugee planes] (in German). Wirtschaftswoche. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
17. "EU beendet Leasingverträge für Flugzeuge der belarussischen Belavia" [EU ends leasing contracts for aircraft of Belarusian Belavia]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). 16 November 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
18. "Belarusian Airline Belavia Cuts Fleet in Half Due to EU Sanctions". Daily News Brief. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
19. "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/2124 of 2 December 2021 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus". Official Journal of the European Union. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
20. "Searching for subjects of sanctions". State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018.
21. "US Broadens Restrictions on Belarus National Airline After Violations". VOA News. 16 June 2022.
22. "U.S. Expands Sanctions on the Belarusian Regime, Marking the Three-Year Anniversary of the Fraudulent August 2020 Presidential Election". United States Department of the Treasury. 9 August 2023.
23. "В Гродно больше не будет собственной авиакомпании. Ее передали «Белавиа»" [Grodno will no longer have its own airline. It was transferred to Belavia]. Hrodna.life - news Grodno (in Russian). 7 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
24. "Belavia routes and airport map". FlightConnections. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
25. "Flights to Larnaca, Belgrade, Budapest and Kishinev are suspended, flights to Istanbul is operated with an amended route". Belavia News. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
26. "Belavia Flights and Destinations - FlightConnections". www.flightconnections.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
27. "Belavia Partners". Belavia. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
28. "Belavia, HC Dinamo Minsk unveil 'Bison Force One'". BelTA – News from Belarus, © Belarusian Telegraph Agency. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
29. "БЕЛАВИА – Национальная авиакомпания Республики Беларусь – История компании". Belavia.by. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
30. ch-aviation.com - Belarus’s Belavia stores its E195-E2s in Kazakhstan 29 October 2021
31. "ММЗ им. С. В. Ильюшина Ил-86". Abaza.ilisso.ru. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
32. "Штурм самолета, нейтрализация "террористов" и освобождение "заложников" | Фоторепортаж | Новости Беларуси | Последние новости | Онлайн новости | Мировые новости | БелТА". Belta.by. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
33. Pravda Canopy of Belarusian Yak-40 burst in air Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Published 6 January 2003.
34. Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) (4 June 2009). "Final Report of Belavia Flight 1834" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011.

External links

Media related to Belavia at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website