Aurora (airline)

For the defunct airline, see Aurora Airlines.

Aurora

IATA ICAO Call sign HZ SHU AURORA
Founded	November 2013 (2013-11)
Commenced operations	8 December 2013 (2013-12-08)
Operating bases	Khabarovsk Novy Airport Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport
Hubs	Vladivostok International Airport
Fleet size	19
Destinations	32[1]
Parent company	Sakhalin Region Development Corporation
Headquarters	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia
Key people	Konstantin Sukhorebrik (CEO)
Website	flyaurora.ru/en/

Aurora (Russian: Аврора) is a Russian airline headquartered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast.^[2] It operates domestic and international flights in the Russian Far East region. It is named after the Russian cruiser Aurora.^[3][4]

History

Aurora was created by government order of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in September 2013.^[4][5][6] Originally called Taiga, it combined Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines.^[5][6] SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Avia served 42 and 15 destinations respectively, and had a combined fleet of 24 fixed-wing aircraft, along with 11 helicopters.^[4]

Aurora began operations on 8 December 2013 serving the Khabarovsk – Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo route.^{[7][8][9][10]} The carrier's first aircraft was an Airbus A319, with a new aircraft livery.^[11] In December 2015, the airline received the first of three Bombardier Q400 aircraft it had on order.^[12]

Aurora was 51%-owned by Aeroflot, with the regional government of Sakhalin Oblast holding the balance.^[4][13] An initial investment of RUB 430 million was provided by Aeroflot through a loan.^[14] In December 2020, Aeroflot sold its 51% stake in Aurora to Sakhalin Region Development Corporation for ₽1.^[15][16] In 2022, Aurora was merged with five Russian regional airlines – Khabarovsk Airlines, Chukotavia, Kamchatka Air Enterprise, Yakutia Airlines, and Polar Airlines – to create a single far-eastern airline for Russia.^[17]

Key people

As of October 2016^[update], Konstantin Sukhorebrik was the CEO.^[18]

Destinations

The airline serves two countries on 41 routes.^[1][19]

As of April 2024^[update], Aurora flies internationally from its three bases located in Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladivostok. The international network includes Beijing-Daxing^[20] and Harbin^[21] airports in China.

Codeshare agreements

Aurora has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Aeroflot
• Khabarovsk Airlines^[22]
• S7 Airlines^[23][24]
• Yakutia Airlines^[22]

Fleet

Current

Aurora Airbus A319-100

The Aurora fleet comprises the following aircraft:^[25]

Aurora fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
Airbus A319-100	8	—	128
Bombardier Dash 8-200	2	—	37	Used on charter flights
Bombardier Dash 8-300	1	—	50
Bombardier Dash 8-400	5	—	70
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-400	3	—	19
Ilyushin Il-114	—	19^[citation needed]	TBA
Sukhoi Superjet 100-95	—	8	87	To be delivered in 2026.^[citation needed]
Yakovlev MC-21-310	—	10[26]	TBA	To be delivered from late 2027 to 2030.[26]
Total	19	37

Historic

Aurora previously operated the following aircraft:^[27]

• Boeing 737-200Adv
• Boeing 737-500
• Bombardier Dash 8-100
• Antonov AN-24RV

References

1. "Aurora on ch-aviation". ch-aviation.
2. "Aurora". CAPA.
3. Montag-Girmes, Polina (11 November 2015). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airlines wins IOSA approval". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015.
4. "New Aurora Airline Set to Serve Far East". The Moscow Times. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013.
5. Borodina, Polina (13 June 2013). "Aeroflot to launch Far East subsidiary in 3Q". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
6. Borodina, Polina (10 September 2013). "Russia's Aeroflot creates Far East subsidiary Taiga Airline". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013.
7. "Aurora Begins Khabarovsk – Karsnoyarsk [sic] Service from Dec 2013". Airline Route. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013.
8. Baklitskaya, Kate (7 November 2013). "New airline offers the world a route to some of Russia's remotest and most exotic destinations". The Siberian Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013.
9. "Russian airline brand Aurora turns to Landor Associates for brand strategy and identity". The Drum. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
10. "Aeroflot Presented New Subsidiary – United Far Eastern Airline "Aurora"" (Press release). Aeroflot. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
11. Borodina, Polina (6 November 2013). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airline set to launch operations". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013.
12. Montag-Girmes, Polina (4 May 2016). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airline 1Q traffic up 22%". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016.
13. Montag-Girmes, Polina (9 June 2015). "Russia's Aurora Airline to double passengers, fleet in 2018". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015.
14. Borodina, Polina (25 October 2013). "Aeroflot provides a $13.5 million loan for Far East subsidiary". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
15. Kaminski-Morrow, David (17 December 2020). "Aeroflot Group to divest eastern carrier Aurora". FlightGlobal.
16. "Aeroflot Sells Subsidiary To Boost Russian Far East Air Transport". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 23 December 2020.
17. VENCKUNAS, VALIUS (21 October 2022). "Three more Russian airlines to join massive far-East merger". Aerotime.
18. Montag-Girmes, Polina (17 October 2016). "Aurora Airline predicts traffic will increase 20% in 2016". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016.
19. "Aurora Flights and Destinations - FlightConnections". www.flightconnections.com.
20. "Aurora Adds Seasonal Sakhalinsk – Beijing Service in NS24". AeroRoutes. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
21. "Авиакомпания "Аврора" увеличивает количество рейсов из Южно-Сахалинска в Харбин". www.flyaurora.ru. Aurora Airlines. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
22. "Авиакомпания "Аврора" объявила о запуске регулярных рейсов по маршруту Якутск — Улан-Удэ". NewsYkt. 7 January 2022.
23. Liu, Jim (29 September 2016). "Aurora / S7 Airlines expands codeshare network in W16". Routesonline. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
24. Liu, Jim (18 January 2018). "Aurora adds Vladivostok – Beijing route from Jan 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
25. "Fleet". Aurora. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
26. "Aurora Airlines expects to receive ten MS-21 aircraft by 2030". Aviation21.ru. 9 September 2023.
27. "Russia's Aurora ends B737 operations". ch-aviation. 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2017.

External links

Media related to Aurora at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Chinese, English, and Russian)