KD Avia

Infobox_Airline
airline=KD Avia
logo=KD Avia logo.gif
logo_size=250px
fleet_size=19 (+25 orders)
destinations=28
IATA=KD
ICAO=KNI
callsign=KALININGRAD AIR
company_name="KD avia" Joint Stock Company
founded=1945
headquarters=Kaliningrad, Russia
key_people=Valery Mikhailov (General Director), Leonid Itskov (Executive Director)
hubs=Khrabrovo Airport
focus_cities=
frequent_flyer=
lounge=
alliance=
website= [http://www.kdavia.eu www.kdavia.eu]

KD Avia, sometimes called Kaliningrad Avia, is an airline based in Kaliningrad, Russia. It operates scheduled services within Russia, CIS and Europe. Its main base is Khrabrovo Airport, Kaliningrad.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 100 | date= 2007-04-03]

History

The airline was established on 8 October 1945 and started operations in 1946. It launched international services in 2004 and announced on 27 May 2005 that it was to change its name from Kaliningrad Avia to KD Avia, to differentiate itself from the state-owned company of the same name which operates from Khrabrovo Airport.

In 2005 the airline started a fleet renovation project and removed from operation its Tupolev Tu-134 and Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft replacing them with Boeing 737-300s. The first Boeing 737-300 was delivered to the airline in February 2005 and by the end of the year 6 were in operation. During 2005, the airline operated scheduled flights from Kaliningrad to Moscow and St.Petersburg, as well as charter flights from Moscow, Kaliningrad and other Russian cities to destinations in Turkey, Egypt and Europe.

The airline is investing into building a new modern passenger terminal in Khrabrovo airport which will be the main transit hub in a hub-and-spoke system of routes, which the airline is planning to introduce on 15 June 2007. In the first stage, up to 13 cities of the Russian Federation will be connected with 13-15 cities of Europe by transit flights via Kaliningrad.

The concept of the airline is to connect Russia and other CIS countries with Europe.

Destinations

Asia
* Kazakhstan
**Astana (Astana International Airport)
* Israel
**Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion International Airport)Europe
* Austria
**Vienna (Vienna International Airport)
* Belgium
**Brussels (Brussels Airport)
*Czech Republic
**Prague (Ruzyně International Airport)
* France
**Paris (Charles de Gaulle International Airport)
* Germany
**Berlin (Berlin-Tegel International Airport)
**Düsseldorf
**Hamburg
**Hanover
**Munich (Munich Airport)
* Italy
**Milan (Malpensa International Airport)
**Rome (Fiumicino Airport)
* Russia (Domestice
**Chelyabinsk
**Kaliningrad (Khrabrovo Airport)
**Kazan
**Moscow
***Domodedovo International Airport
***Sheremetyevo International Airport
**Nizhniy Novgorod
**Tyumen
**Omsk
**Saint Petersburg (Pulkovo Airport)
**Samara
**Ufa
**Volgograd
**Perm
**Yekaterinburg (From 26 October 2008)
* Spain
**Barcelona (Barcelona International Airport)
* Ukraine
**Kiev (Boryspil Airport)
** Odessa (Odessa International Airport)
* United Kingdom
**London (Gatwick Airport)

Fleet

The KD Avia fleet consists of the following aircraft as of May 2008:

As of 3 June 2008, the average age of the KD Avia fleet is 20.6 years ( [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Kaliningradavia.htm] ).

On 29 May 2008, KD Avia placed a commitment with Airbus for the purchase of 25 A319-100s. [ [http://www.eads.com/1024/en/pressdb/pressdb/Airbus/20080529_airbus_ila_kd_avia.html] A319 Order]

Incidents and accidents

*On October 1, 2008, flight KD794 from Barcelona to Kaliningrad, performed by a Boeing 737-300 (tail number EI-DON), resulted in a severely damage to the airplane during crash-landing with main gear up. The crew could not lower the gear and performed a belly landing on its second approach to Kaliningrad. None of the 138 passengers and 6 crew on board was injured. [cite web
title = Accident: KD Avia B733 at Kaliningrad on Oct 1st 2008, belly landing
author = Simon Hradecky
work =
publisher = The Aviation Herald
date = 2008-10-03
url = http://avherald.com/h?article=40da3e28
doi =
accessdate = 2008-10-07] [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081002/117378424.html]

External links

* [http://www.kdavia.ru/ KD Avia]
* [http://www.kdavia.co.uk/ KD Avia UK]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=KDV&al_op=1 KD Avia Fleet]

References