A Database of the Russian Airlines that Flew to the Occupied Crimea in October 2017

Olha KORBUT
The Maidan of Foreign Affairs Crimea Department
Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies

Translated by Tetyana PUCHKOVA

The Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, BSNews and Maidan of Foreign Affairs monitoring group has summarized the Russian airlines’ illegal flights to the occupied Crimea in October 2017.

A model of the Russian MC-21 narrow-body aircraft. Photo by Marina Listseva, TASS

The past month has traditionally marked the end of the holiday season in the occupied peninsula, so the frequency of the daily flights to and from the Simferopol airport has skyrocketed. However, that has been the tendency over the past two years. Will the construction of the new airport terminal indeed help achieve the record passenger traffic of 2015 if the existing one is forced to operate below its capacity?

In October 2017, 2226 flights were made to and from the Simferopol airport, while the previous year’s number for the same period was 2624. The overall highest number of flights to and from the occupied Crimea for October was 2890 in 2015. In October 2014, the number of flights amounted to 2110.

The comparative chart below shows significant changes in the frequency of air traffic during the same period throughout the occupation. Along with the peak of 2015, the two subsequent years, 2016 and 2017, show a clear deflation in daily flights both ways. Moscow and St. Petersburg remain the most popular departure points, while the rest of the connections were made between Simferopol, Rostov, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Tyumen – generally, one flight a day or less.

The Passenger Flight Dynamics to and from
the Simferopol Airport for October (2014-2017)

In October, two Russian airlines, Red Wings and NordAvia that had been carrying out mostly joint flights to the occupied Simferopol airport, announced a merger to create an aviation holding. The Red Wings carrier fleet consists of six Airbus and four Tu-204-100 aircraft, with additional ten Tu-204SM and sixteen MS-21-300 expected.

The NordAvia Park consists of nine narrow-body Boeing 737-500s.

Red Wings

ІАТА WZ
ІCАО RWZ
Callsign AIR RED

Hubs: Pulkovo Airport (Saint Petersburg), Domodedovo Airport (Moscow), Simferopol Airport, Sochi Airport
Headquaters: Moscow

Destinations: Austria, Montenegro, Finland, Egypt, Balkans, Mediterranean Basin

NordAvia

IATA 5N
ICAO AUL
Callsign ARKHANGELSK AIR

Operating bases: Talagi Airport (Arkhangelsk)
Hubs: Syktyvkar, Murmansk, Domodedovo
Headquaters: Arkhangelsk
Destinations: domestic


Overall, passenger air travel to the occupied Crimea has been provided by 12 Russian airlines:

Aeroflot

ІАТА SU
ІCАО AFL
Callsign: AEROFLOT
Hub: Sheremetyevo Airport (Moscow)
Headquarters: Moscow, Russia
Subsidiaries: Donavia, Оrenburg Airlines, Dobrolyot, Аvrora, Pobeda; Rossiya [2]
Member of the SkyTeam

Destinations: US, EU, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Asia, Baltics, UK, Middle East, the CIS countries

Rossiya

ІАТА FV
ІCАО SDM
Callsign: Rossiya
Main hub: Pulkovo Airport (St.Petersburg)
Other hubs: Vnukovo (Moscow), Simferopol, Adler (Sochi)
Headquarters: St.Petersburg, Russia
A subsidiary of Aeroflot

Destinations: Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, UK, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Тurkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Іzrael, the CIS countries

Ural Airlines

ІАТА U6
ІCАО SVR
Callsign: Sverdlovsk Air
Main hub: Koltsovo Airport (Yekaterinburg)
Other hubs: Domodedovo Airport (Moscow), Tolmachevo Airport (Novosibirsk)
Headquarters: Yekaterinburg

Destinations: Кazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Spain, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, UAE, Тajikistan, Armenia, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, China, Finland, Іsrael, Georgia

Globus

ІАТА GH
ІCАО GLP
Callsign: Globus
Main hub: Domodedovo Airport (Moscow)
Other hubs: Tolmachevo Airport (Novosibirsk)
Headquarters:Ob
Subsidiary of the S7 Airlines holding

Destinations: Domestic

S7 Airlines*

Globus Airlines uses S7 Airlines' aircraft to operate flights to the occupied Crimea

ІАТА S7
ІCАО SBI
Callsign: SIBERIAN AIRLINES
Main hub: Domodedovo Airport (Moscow), Tolmachevo Airport (Novosibirsk)
Headquarters: Ob, Russia

Destinations: International

Red Wings

ІАТА WZ
ІКАО RWZ
Callsign: AIR RED
Hubs: Vnukovo Airport (Moscow), Domodedovo Airport (Moscow), Simferopol Airport
Headquarters: Moscow

Destinations: Austria, Montenegro, Finland, Balkan, Egypt and Mediterranean countries

NordAvia

IATA 5N
IKAO AUL
Callsign: ARKHANGELSK AIR
Main hub: Talagi Airport (Аrkhangelsk)
Other hubs: Syktyvkar, Murmansk, Domodedovo
Headquarters: Аrkhangelsk

Destinations: domestic

Nordwind Airlines

ІАТА N4
ІКАО NWS
Callsign: NORDLAND
Main hub: Sheremetyevo Airport (Moscow)
Headquarters: Moscow
A subsidiary of the Pegas Touristic Holding

Destinations: Charter flights to Jordan, Thailand, Cuba, Vietnam, Mexico, Tunisia, Dominical Republic, Israel

Ikar(Pegas)

ІАТА IK
ІКАО KAR
Callsign: KRASJET
Main hub: Yemelyanovo Airport (Krasnoyarsk)
Headquarters: Krasnoyarsk

Destinations: Charter flights to Turkey, Spain, Тhailand, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Vietnam

Yamal

IATA YC
IKAO LLM
Callsign: YAMAL
Hubs: Salekhard, Roshino (Tyumen), Domededovo (Moscow)
Headquarters: Salekhard

Destinations: Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Sweden

Yakutia

IATA R3
IKAO SYL
Callsign: AIR YAKUTIA
Main hub: Yakutsk
Other hubs: Vnukovo (Moscow), Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Khabarovsk
Headquarters: Yakutsk

Destinations: domestic, China, South Korea and Czech Republic

UVT

ІАТА UW
ІКАО UVT
Callsign: UVT
Hubs: Kazan, Bugulma
Headquarters: Bugulma

Destinations: domestic

 

* * *

The Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, BSNews and Maidan of Foreign Affairs monitoring group also regularly monitors the subsequent movement of aircrafts that illegally fly to the occupied Crimea. We can confirm that a number of them also provide passenger traffic to the European countries that have condemned the Russian annexation of Crimea. The database of those aircrafts is being continuously updated and expanded. Previous monitoring results can be found in the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, BSNews and the Maidan of Foreign Affairs monthly air traffic reviews.

The table below details the European flights by the Russian airlines that regularly fly to the Simferopol airport:

VQ-BCG

Airbus
A320-214

SU6897

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-LED
1:49AM
15.10.2017

LED-Rome(Italy)
SU6675
Landed 11:51AM
26.10.2017
LED-Berlin(Germany)
SU6641
Landed 9:37PM
23.10.2017
LED-Prague(CZ)
SU6621
Landed 10:19AM
08.10.2017

VP-BFA

Airbus
A320-214

SU1629

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-SVO
5:26PM
22.09.2017

Moscow-Budapest(Hungary)
SU2030
Landed 12:08PM
27.10.2017
Stockholm-Moscow
SU2387 8:38PM
26.10.2017
Moscow-Frankfurt(Germany)
SU2302
Landed 5:51PM
25.10.2017
Moscow-Dusseldorf(Germany)
SU2536
Landed 9:52AM
23.10.2017
Moscow-Copenhagen(Denmark)
SU2496
Landed 9:04PM
21.10.2017
Moscow-Istanbul(Turkey)
SU2132
Landed 5:46PM
19.10.2017
Moscow-Valencia(Spain)
SU2502
Landed 12:42PM
11.10.2017

VP-BDG

Boeing
737-8Q8

S7/GH162

S7 Airlines / Globus

SIP-DME
10:17PM
29.09.2017

Moscow-Larnaca(Cyrpus)
S7/GH603
Landed 3:16PM
24.10.2017
Moscow-Dusseldorf(Germany)
S7/GH991
Landed 3:08PM
2.10.2017

VP-BON

Boeing
737-8LJ

SU1635

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-SVO
9:37PM
7.10.2017

Moscow-Antalya(Turkey)
SU2142
Landed 1:40PM
27.10.2017
Moscow-Barcelona(Spain)
SU2512
Landed 11:41PM
26.10.2017
Moscow-Bologna(Italy)
SU2428 Landed 4:16AM
25.10.2017
Moscow-Rome(Italy)
SU2408
Landed 5:44PM
22.10.2017
Moscow-Berlin(Germany)
SU2314
Landed 4:59PM
20.10.2017
Moscow-Lisbon(Portugal)
SU2606
Landed 11:23PM
12.10.2017

VP-BBG

Airbus
A319-111

U636

Ural Airlines

SIP-DME
5:27PM
12.10.2017

Moscow-Kutaisi(Georgia)
U62913
Landed 4:58PM
26.10.2017
Sochi-Tbilisi(Georgia)
U62471
Landed 5:20PM
20.10.2017

VQ-BRP

Boeing
737-8LP

S7/GH162

S7 Airlines / Globus

SIP-DME
10:01PM
3.10.2017

Dusseldorf(Germany)-Moscow
S7/GH992 4:26PM
17.10.2017

VP-BWG

Airbus
A319-111

SU6894

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-LED
9:37PM
5.10.2017

LED-Larnaca(Cyprus)
SU6617
Landed 1:48PM
18.10.2017
Moscow-Paris(France)
SU6637
Landed 1:36PM
14.10.2017
LED-Hamburg(Germany)
SU6653
Landed 2:10PM
13.10.2017
LED-Paris(France)
SU6635
Landed 11:16AM
9.10.2017

VP-BEO

Airbus
А320-214

SU1633

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-SVO
5:22AM
9.10.2017

Moscow-Valencia(Spain)
SU2502
Landed 10:15AM
31.10.2017

Moscow-Warsaw(Poland)
SU2002
Landed 7:18PM
26.10.2017
Moscow-Rome(Italy)
SU2400
Landed 10:06AM
25.10.2017
Moscow-Madrid(Spain)
SU2604
Landed 10:18PM
19.10.2017
Copenhagen(Denmark)-Moscow
SU2659 1:15PM
19.10.2017
Moscow-Dusseldorf(Germany)
SU2436
Landed 10:11PM
17.10.2017
Moscow-Lyon(France)
SU2374
Landed 11:15AM
17.10.2017
Hamburg(Germany)-Moscow
SU2349 6:52PM
13.10.2017
Frankfurt(Germany)-Moscow
SU2302 7:05PM
10.10.2017
Moscow-Istanbul(Turkey)
SU2136
Landed 1:27PM
9.10.2017

VP-BIU

Airbus
A319-114

SU/FV6892

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-LED
11:19AM
25.09.2017

Larnaca(Cyrpus)-LED
SU/FV6618 2:56PM
27.10.2017
Milan(Italy)-LED
SU/FV6674 1:16PM
26.10.2017
LED-Rome(Italy)
SU/FV6675
Landed 11:44AM
10.10.2017
LED-Paris(France)
SU/FV6635
Landed 11:40AM
4.10.2017
LED-Barcelona(Spain)
SU/FV6701
Landed 11:00AM
1.10.2017

VQ-BRE

Airbus
A320-214

U6528

Ural Airlines

SIP-SVX
7:19PM
30.09.2017

Barcelona(Spain)-LED
U67052 9:25PM
18.10.2017
Moscow-Larnaca(Cyprus)
U67029
Landed 11:40AM
12.10.2017
Yekaterinburg-Prague(CZ)
U6701 Landed 10:45AM
1.10.2017

VP-BWI

Airbus
A320-214

SU/FV898

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-LED
7:12AM
14.10.2017

Rome(Italy)-LED
SU/FV6676 1:21PM
31.10.2017
LED-Paris(France)
SU/FV6635
Landed 11:25AM
29.10.2017
LED-Berlin(Germany)
SU/FV6641
Landed 9:54AM
26.10.2017
Moscow-Bratislava(Slovakia)
SU/FV5783
Landed 2:24AM
26.10.2017
LED-Milan(Italy)
SU/FV6673
Landed 12:08PM
17.10.2017
LED-Helsinki(Finland)
SU/FV5783
Landed 7:07AM
15.10.2017

VQ-BOD

Airbus
A321-211

N4108

Nordwind Airlines

SIP-UFA
6:44PM
6.10.2017

Kazan-Antalya(Turkey)
N45807 Landed 5:49AM
31.10.2017
Moscow-Chisinau(Moldova)
N45507 Landed 9:16AM
14.10.2017
Antalya(Turkey)-Ufa
N45836 12:30PM
6.10.2017

VP-BWZ

Airbus
A320-233

WZ786

Red Wings

SIP-LED
2:01PM
8.09.2017

Moscow-Antalya(Turkey)
WZ9147
Landed 12:07PM
30.10.2017
Moscow-Batumi(Georgia)
WZ551 Landed 10:31PM
13.10.2017
Ufa-Antalya(Turkey)
WZ9371
Landed 2:46AM
6.10.2017

VQ-BDJ

Airbus
A320-214

U62932

Ural Airlines

SIP-SVX
12:48PM
5.10.2017

Rimini(Italy)-Moscow
U67042 6:30PM
21.10.2017
Larnaca(Cyprus)-Moscow
U67030 11:04PM
20.10.2017
Tbilisi(Georgia)-Yekaterinburg
U62912 6:11PM
13.10.2017

VQ-BKJ

Airbus
A321-211

U62832

Ural Airlines

SIP-DME
2:35PM
26.09.2017

Moscow-Tbilisi(Georgia)
U62465 Landed 1:25PM
30.10.2017
Larnaca(Cyprus)-Moscow
U67034 11:45PM
28.10.2017
Yekaterinburg-Antalya(Turkey)
U61071 Landed 6:50AM
24.10.2017
Rimini(Italy)-Moscow
U6742 9:41AM
11.10.2017
Moscow-Palma de Mallorca(Spain)
U65007 Landed 5:16PM
5.10.2017

VQ-BSL

Airbus
A320-214

SU1637

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-SVO
10:12AM
11.10.2017

Berlin(Germany)-Moscow
SU2313 12:06PM
31.10.2017
Belgrade(Serbia)-Budapest(Hungary)
SU2030 2:19PM
29.10.2017
Dusseldorf(Germany)-Moscow
SU2153 2:49PM
28.10.2017
Moscow-Antalya(Turkey)
SU2144 Landed 5:51PM
27.10.2017
Istanbul(Turkey)-Moscow
SU2133 6:58PM
24.10.2017
Moscow-Oslo(Norway)
SU2174
Landed 12:22PM
17.10.2017
Moscow-Athens(Greece)
SU2110
Landed 12:36PM
12.10.2017

VQ-BSG

Airbus
A320-214

SU1625

SU1621

Aeroflot / Rossiya

SIP-SVO
7:30PM
6.10.2017

SIP-SVO
12:24PM
29.08.2017

Moscow-Istanbul(Turkey)
SU2130
Landed 1:26PM
29.10.2017
Moscow-Berlin(Germany)
SU2312
Landed 11:11AM
28.10.2017
Copenhagen(Denmark)-Moscow
SU2497
Landed 3:10AM
26.10.2017
Moscow-Dusseldorf(Germany)
SU2436
Landed 10:07PM
24.10.2017
Warsaw(Poland)-Moscow
SU2003 8:45PM
20.10.2017
Budapest(Hungary)-Moscow
SU2469 8:47PM
19.10.2017
Moscow-Munich(Germany)
SU2322
Landed 11:29AM
16.10.2017
Moscow-Oslo(Norway)
SU2174
Landed 11:52AM
9.10.2017
Prague(CZ)-Moscow
SU2015 6:07PM
7.10.2017
Moscow-Stockholm(Sweden)
SU2386
Landed 7:43PM
5.10.2017
Moscow-Frankfurt(Germany)
SU2300
Landed 12:24PM
2.10.2017

VQ-BGJ

Airbus
A320-232

U62792

Ural Airlines

SIP-DME
9:17AM
3.10.2017

Yekaterinburg-Paris(France)
U6709 Landed 9:40AM
19.10.2017
Moscow-Barcelona(Spain)
U6845
Landed 11:38AM
16.10.2017
Moscow-Larnaca(Cyprus)
U67029
Landed 1:55PM
14.10.2017

RA89056

Sukhoi Superjet
100-95B

SU2801

Aeroflot

SIP-AER
9:41AM
27.08.2017

Riga(Latvia)-Moscow
SU2101 3:30PM
18.10.2017
Warsaw(Poland)-Moscow
SU2003 8:23PM
16.10.2017
Tallinn(Estonia)-Moscow
SU2107 11:59AM
3.10.2017
Moscow-Bucharest(Romania)
SU2034
Landed 12:49PM
2.10.2017

VP-BWX

Airbus
A320-232

WZ784

Red Wings

SIP-LED
3:54AM
21.09.2017

Moscow-Antalya(Turkey)
WZ9147
Landed 8:32AM
27.10.2017
Moscow-Pardubice(CZ)
WZ545
Landed 12:36PM
22.10.2017
Krasnodar-Rimini(Italy)
WZ9429
Landed 1:44PM
7.10.2017

VP-BYW

Boeing
737-8Q8
 

N4124

Nordwind Airlines

SIP-SVO
10:25AM
1.10.2017

Kazan-Antalya(Turkey)
N45837
Landed 9:51AM
29.10.2017
Moscow-Heraklion(Greece)
N41611
Landed 4:13AM
15.10.2017

 

Note:

In December 2014 the administration of the US President Barack Obama has adopted a number of decisions regarding the sanctions for any action in the occupied Crimea.

In April of the same year, in accordance with the ICAO Convention on International Civil Aviation, the Eurocontrol (the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation), banned the European airlines from flying to the Russia-occupied Crimea and Sevastopol. [1].

Ukraine officially accused [2] Russia of violation of the international multilateral and bilateral agreements and the provisions of the European Air Navigation Plan, as well as in ignoring the established borders of the Flight Information Regions (FIR) [3].

The Air Navigation Services in the sky over the Crimean Peninsula belong to the jurisdiction to Ukraine that due to the Russian annexation of the Crimean AR had to move the dispatch center from Simferopol to Kyiv and Odessa.

However, due to the inability of the State Avia Service to guarantee security of the Ukraine flights over the occupied territories, in March 2014, it was decided to close the airports in Simferopol and Belbek and the lower airspace and to restrict traffic in Simferopol flight information region.

At the same time, Ukraine continues to service the Black Sea FIR within its competence.

In April 2014, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) called Russia's actions to seize control of the airspace above Crimea and the Black Sea waters that belong to the Ukrainian FIR, illegal [4].

[1] The ban of the flights to the occupied Crimea for European airlines: http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/198796.html

[2] Announcement of the SE "UkrAeroRukh" of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine: http://uksatse.ua/index.php?act=Part&CODE=247&id=264

[3] The FIR (Flight Information Region) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service and an alerting service are provided

[4] The publication in the online edition of the Tyzhden magazine from 16.04.2014 http://tyzhden.ua/News/107719

For two and a half years, the BSNews and Maidan of Foreign Affairs monitoring group conducts daily monitoring of the illegal flights to the occupied Crimea followed by the media publications of the results of the investigation on the airlines-offenders.

* * *

For the last two and a half years, the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, BSNews and Maidan of Foreign Affairs monitoring group has been conducting daily monitoring of the illegal flights to the occupied Crimea with further publications in the media on the airlines offenders.

* * *

The monitoring of the violations of the international sanctions against Russia and the legal regime of the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea is supported by the European Program Initiative of the Renaissance International Foundation. The position of Renaissance International Foundation may not reflect the opinion of the authors.