Belavia

Infobox Airline
airline = Republic Unitary Enterprise "National Aircompany "Belavia"
Рэспубліканскае унітарнае прадпрыемства «Нацыянальная авіякампанія «Белавія»
Республиканское унитарное предприятие «Национальная авиакомпания «Белавиа»

logo_size = 250
fleet_size = 17 (+1 order)
destinations = 22
IATA = B2
ICAO = BRU
callsign = BELAVIA
parent = State Owned
company_slogan =
founded = March 5, 1996
headquarters = Minsk, Belarus
key_people = Anatoliy Nikolaevich Gusarov (General Director)
hubs = Minsk International Airport
frequent_flyer = [http://www.belavia.by/info-chf.htm Frequent Flyer Programme]
lounge =
alliance =
website = http://belavia.by

Belavia Belarusian Airlines (Belarusian: "Белавія", Russian: "Белавиа") is the national airline company of the Republic of Belarus. It is the flag carrier and state owned. Belavia is serving a network of routes between European cities and the CIS. Its main base is in Minsk International Airportcite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | pages= 84-85 | date= 2007-03-27] .

History

On November 7, 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.

In 1964 the Tupolev Tu-124 aircraft received Belarusian registration. In 1973 the then new Tupolev Tu-134A began operating in Belarus. In 1983 Belarusian aviation started flying the new Tupolev Tu-154 planes. On February 1, 1985 a Soviet Tupolev Tu-134 crashed near Minsk-1 killing at least 58 out of 80 people on board. The accident happened due to clear ice ingestion into the engines as a result of inadequate deicing before takeoff. Both engines sustained serious damage and stalled.

The airline was officially founded on 5 March 1996 in accordance with a resolution of the Belarusian Government "About the restructuring of air transport of the Republic Belarus", when the local Aeroflot division was nationalized and renamed. Between then and 1998 Belavia opened regular routes to Beijing, İstanbul, Larnaca, London, Prague, and Rome. In 1998 Belavia merged with Minskavia, acquiring several Antonov An-24, Antonov An-26 and Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft in addition to existing fleet of Tupolev Tu-134 and Tupolev Tu-154 airplanes.

On 18 May, 2001 Belavia commenced a Minsk-Paris scheduled service. In 2003 Belavia started publishing an in-flight magazine "Horizons" in English, Russian and Belarusian (partially). On 16 October, 2003 Belavia signed a leasing agreement for its first Boeing 737-500 aircraft. In 2004 Belavia further extended operations and acquired one more Boeing 737. On 26 June, 2004 Belavia opened a new route to Hanover, Germany. 2008 will see the airline reopen its route between Minsk and Shannon airport in Ireland.

The airline has 1,017 employees.

Incidents and accidents

One of its most serious accidents to date was a shattered windshield on a Yakovlev Yak-40 upon landing in Prague. The cockpit glazing of the Yak-40 burst on January 6, 2003 just after the aircraft entered Czech airspace; two Czech Air Force fighters accompanied the plane to a safe landing in Ruzyně International Airport. [Pravda [http://newsfromrussia.com/cis/2003/01/06/41687.html Canopy of Belarussian Yak-40 burst in air] . Published January 6, 2003.]

On February 14, 2008, Belavia Flight 1834, a Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-100ER enroute from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk, Belarus, hits its left wing on the runway during takeoff from Zvartnots International Airport, subsequently crashing to 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. Speculation points to icing contamination leading to a stall of the left wing, but the cause is still under investigation.

Destinations

Fleet

The Belavia fleet includes the following aircraft (as of May 2008) [http://www.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?query=operator&qstring=Belavia+Belarussian+Airlines&where=99905&luck= Aerotransport.org Belavia fleet details] ]

Three leased Bombardier CRJ 100 aircraft are to be introduced for use on regional services from Minsk. The first was on delivery in February 2007, with the other two later in 2007, one CRJ-100 crashed in Yerevan in February 2008, a write-off with no fatalities. They directly replaced the aging Antonov An-24 and Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft and flying on short distance international services [Airliner World, February 2007] .

References

External links

* [http://www.belavia.by/index_en.htm Belavia]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=B2&al_op=1 Belavia Fleet]