S7 Airlines

Early years

What is now S7 Airlines started in 1957 as "the Tolmachevo united squadron" of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the USSR. After the Soviet Union disintegration and during 1990's Russian economic reforms a state-run "Siberia Airlines" was created based on the squadron in 1992 and later privatized in 1994. The same year Siberia was assigned an IATA airline code. Siberia Airlines was rebranded S7 Airlines in 2006.

In 1997, Siberia Airlines tried to buy Vnukovo Airlines, to make Moscow its next main hub, but this didn't eventuate.

After the 1998 Russian financial crisis, Vnukovo Airlines was heading towards bankruptcy, and Siberia Airlines advised it to merge, but Vnukovo refused. In 1999, Siberia Airlines signed a document for the Vnukovo Airlines take-over, in the event the airline ceased operations due to insolvency.

Development since the 2000s

S7 Airlines began merging with Vnukovo Airlines in 2001. S7 Airlines had acquired all the aircraft from Vnukovo Airlines including Tupolev Tu-154, Tupolev Tu-204-100 and Ilyushin Il-86.

In 2001, the airline absorbed Baikal Airlines and then in 2004, the airline absorbed Chelyabinsk Airlines and Enkor. In 2002, S7 Airlines (then known as Siberia Airlines) painted all Vnukovo Airlines fleet with Siberia Airlines livery and the airline began its service from Moscow-Vnukovo, but after some time it shifted all the flights, including the charters from Moscow-Sheremetyevo, to Moscow-Domodedovo.

The first western aircraft, Airbus A310s, were acquired in 2004. In summer 2004, during the Farnborough Airshow, the company signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase 50 of the new Sukhoi Russian Regional Jet, with the first plane to be delivered in 2007. However, the airline subsequently dropped its plans to order this aircraft, citing that the aircraft's changed specifications no longer met its requirements.

In line with an IATA resolution, from December 2006 the airline began to publish its fares for international destinations originating in Russia in euros, rather than US dollars. This resulted in a fare increase, as the conversion rate used was 1 euro = 1 US dollar. Fuel surcharges were also published in euros. Its domestic fares were still to be shown in the local currency. Also in December 2006, the airline became the second Russian air carrier to complete, and pass, the IATA International Safety Audit (IOSA), which is the first global air safety standard. On 27 September 2007, OAO Sibir Airlines /S7 Airlines/ received an official notice of IATA when the carrier was entered in the register of operators IOSA.

It was announced in April 2007 that a new division had been set up within the airline, called Globus. This division was to focus on charter flights for tourists to foreign holiday destinations. Initially, the aircraft for this division would be drawn from the mainline fleet, but during 2010–2014, 10 Boeing 737–800 aircraft were leased with an all-economy layout, with the option for a further 10 aircraft.

On 29 May 2007, the airline announced a proposed order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners scheduled for delivery in 2014, with an option for 10 additional aircraft. However, the order was officially cancelled on 29 January 2009, with S7 stating that it was considering the possibility of taking the aircraft under a leasing scheme. As of November 2008, all Soviet-made aircraft had left the fleet.

S7 joined the Oneworld alliance in 2010.

In November 2015, S7 Airlines made an offer to acquire a majority stake in bankrupt Transaero. However, the proposal was rejected by shareholders.

In 2016, American band OK Go partnered with S7 to film a "zero-g" music video, Upside Down & Inside Out, aboard a reduced gravity aircraft.

Destinations

S7 has operated scheduled passenger flights to destinations in Russia, as well as international services to Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, PR China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Spain, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

Codeshare agreements

S7 codeshares with the following airlines:

Current fleet

As of March 2017, the S7 Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Fleet history

At different times, the S7 Airlines fleet has consisted of the following aircraft:

Incidents and accidents

Subsidiaries

Sibir Technics LCC is a subsidiary of S7, located on the grounds of Tolmachevo Airport.