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Fr- Rossiya Airlines, one of the biggest Russian airlines, is the leading air carrier in the North-Western region of the Russian Federation. Rossiya Airlines is a joint-stock company, located in St. Petersburg and operates up to 40% of flights from Pulkovo airport.
- In 1932, a separate unit, the 31st Squadron, was organized to control and manage the Leningrad – Moscow route and started operations with the landing of two aircraft from Moscow at the newly constructed Shosseynaya Airport south of Leningrad. The unit later became Pulkovo Airlines, the predecessor of Rossiya Airlines.
- In 1944, after the Siege of Leningrad was lifted, and civil air services resumed, the air squadron was renamed the 19th Squadron. In 1952, the 19th Squadron was reorganized into the 67th Squadron, which in 1963 joined the Leningrad United Air Unit (LUAU).
- In April 1956, the USSR Government established a special-purpose air unit (SPAU) for government flights. In 1959, SPAU No. 235 became an independent enterprise, named Detached Air Unit (DAU) No. 235 and, over the years, developed from a small flight detachment into a large air company outfitted with the most advanced aircraft equipment.
- In April 1992, the Leningrad United Air Unit (LUAU) was renamed Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise (Pulkovo Airlines) and was wholly owned by the Russian government. Pulkovo Airlines used Aeroflot’s livery until it changed it in 1997 to avoid confusion.
- In December 1993, DAU No. 235 became the State Transport Company (STC) Russia. Prior to its affiliation with Pulkovo Airlines, STC Russia operated flights of special-purpose civil aircraft for top statesmen of the Russian Federation, as well as commercial flights.
- Between 1998 and 2004, Pulkovo Airlines started regular service to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Israel, China, and South Korea.
- Since June 2000, Pulkovo Airlines is a full member of IATA and, since December 2001, a full member of Multilateral Interline Traffic Agreements (MITA).
- In 2004, the Russian Government initiated the reorganization of both companies, Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise and STC Russia. The merger process began in December.
- In 2005, Pulkovo Airport was separated from Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise and became an independent legal entity.
- In October 2006, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise State Transport Company (FSUE STC) Rossiya, formed by the merger of Pulkovo Airlines and STC Russia, was registered in Saint Petersburg. The new airline started operations as the legal successor of Pulkovo Airlines on October 29. This date became the reference point of the company’s current history.
- In February 2010, the Russian Government decided that all regional airlines owned by the state through the holding company Rostechnologii, including Rossiya Airlines, would be consolidated with the national carrier Aeroflot.
- In January 2011, FSUE STC Rossiya changed its form of ownership when the company was reorganized as an open joint-stock company, OJSC Rossiya Airlines.
- In November 2011, the integration into the Aeroflot Group began when 75% of Rossiya Airlines shares were transferred to Aeroflot. In December, the remaining 25% of Rossiya Airlines shares were donated by the Government of St. Petersburg.
- In 2013, Rossiya Airlines transported 4,590,146 people, a record for passenger traffic. The following year, the airline carried over 5 million passengers.
- In 2014, the commercial management of Rossiya Airlines was taken over by the parent company Aeroflot. Since March 30, 2014, Rossiya Airlines is operating flights under Aeroflot’s SU code.
- In 2015, for the second year in a row, Rossiya Airlines entered the top ten Eastern European airlines, according to the World Airline Awards the Skytrax.
- In 2016, two of Aeroflot’s subsidiaries, Orenair that operates mainly in the charter business, and Donavia that covers a regional network in Southern Russia centered on the city of Rostov-on-Don, merged with Rossiya Airlines, which is already commercially integrated with the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot. The fleet of the expanded Rossiya Airlines reached 74 aircraft to carry up to 10 million passengers per year.
In 2017, Rossiya Airlines carried 11.2 million passengers. The 26.7% year-on-year passenger traffic increase was determined by the higher demand in the leisure market and the capacity supply for charter flights. Of 5.5 million passengers carried via St. Petersburg – Pulkovo Airport, more than a third were carried on charter flights.
- In 2018, Rossiya Airlines is the 3rd largest air carrier in Russia, with a route network that offers more than 90 destinations, including some 20 leisure destinations, operated under its own FV flight code for the tour operator Biblio Globus, which formerly partnered with Transaero.
In December 2018, the Board of Directors elected Sergey Aleksandrovsky as the CEO of Rossiya Airlines JSC for a term of three years.
- No fatal accidents involving Rossiya Airlines were registered so far. In the days of Pulkovo Airlines, two fatal accidents occurred, both involving Russian aircraft. In 2002, an Ilyushin Il-86 with 16 crew on board crashed shortly after takeoff, and only two flight attendants survived. In August 2006, Pulkovo Airlines Flight 612 from Anapa to Saint Petersburg, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashed near Donetsk, Ukraine, killing all 170 people (160 passengers and 10 crew members) on board.
