Transaero Airlines

Transaero
Трансаэро

IATA UN ICAO TSO Callsign TRANS SOVIET
Founded	1990
Hubs	Domodedovo International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Transaero Privilege Program
Fleet size	77 (+30 firm orders)
Destinations	58
Headquarters	Domodedovo International Airport Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Key people	Olga Pleshakova (MD)
Website	www.transaero.ru

OJSC Transaero Airlines (Russian: ОАО «АК «ТРАНСАЭРО», Открытое акционерное общество "Авиационная компания "ТРАНСАЭРО") or simply Transaero (Russian: Трансаэро) is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Domodedovo International Airport, Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It operates scheduled and charter flights to more than 99 domestic and international destinations. Its main base is Domodedovo International Airport (DME), Moscow and Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg.

History

Ilyushin Il-86 of Transaero in 1997

Transaero began as a charter airline with aircraft leased from Aeroflot. It was incorporated as a joint stock company on 28 December 1990 and was the first non-Aeroflot company approved for scheduled passenger services in the Soviet Union. Its first charter service was Moscow to Tel Aviv on November 5, 1991. In July 1992, Transaero received its own Ilyushin Il-86. It became the first non-Aeroflot airline to operate scheduled flights in Russia when it launched its Moscow - Norilsk flight in January 1993 followed by Kiev, Sochi and Almaty later the same year. Its first international scheduled route from Moscow to Tel Aviv was inaugurated in November 1993.

In April 1993, Transaero started operating western aircraft when it received its first Boeing 737-200, followed by its first Boeing 757-200 in April 1994.

Transaero was also the first Russian airline with a frequent flyer program, which established in 1995. It was also the first Russian airline with an FAA aircraft maintenance certificate, which it obtained in 1997.

Transero operated the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 for a time in the mid 1990s.

In December 1998 a weekly service between Moscow and London Gatwick was started. Transaero operated its first Boeing 737-700 in 1998, followed by Boeing 767-200 and Boeing 737-300 in 2002 and Boeing 767-300 and Boeing 737-400 in 2003. An agreement was signed to purchase 10 Tupolev Tu-214-300 in the same year. In 2005. Transaero became the first Russian passenger airline to operate the Boeing 747 when it started services on 11 July 2005 with a leased, ex-Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747-200 on scheduled services from Moscow to Tel Aviv. The aircraft will also operate summer charter flights to holiday destinations.

In May 2005, Transaero added a flight between Moscow and Montreal, marking the first time the airline flew to Canada. On June 21, 2006, Transaero also began operating nonstop flights between Moscow and Toronto. The service to Toronto was temporarily suspended in September 2008, but has since been restored, whereas the service to Montreal has been cancelled as of 2009.

In November 2007 the airline announced a new scheduled bi-weekly service between Moscow and Sydney, Australia via Hong Kong, commencing December 24, 2007. The flight was operated by Boeing 767-300 equipment. This route is now cancelled.

The now quadruple daily London-Moscow bmi service is jointly operated by bmi in partnership with Transaero via a codeshare agreement. Bmi operates two daily services in each direction and Transero operates the other two. The two airlines also award frequent flyer miles for each other's flights and status miles on the LHR-DME route.

In October 2009 Austrian Airlines AG and Transaero Airlines have concluded a code-share agreement in Moscow on the routing Vienna to Moscow. Under the Agreement Austrian Airlines will put its code on Transaero's daily Moscow-Vienna-Moscow flight, while Transaero will put its code on one of the three daily Vienna-Moscow-Vienna flights which are operated by Austrian.

Transaero received 4 Boeing 777-300 aircraft that formerly belonged to Singapore Airlines in 2011.

In 2011, Transaero agreed to buy four of Boeing's newest widebody, the Boeing 747-8, and put in a memorandum of understanding for four Airbus A380s.

Destinations

Main article: Transaero destinations

Expansion into China and the U.S.

In October 2010, Transaero launched flights to Beijing, Miami and New York City. This marked the return of Transaero to the United States since cancelling service to Los Angeles. Beijing became the second Chinese destination past Sanya.

Codeshare agreements

Transaero has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

airBaltic Armavia Austrian Airlines Belavia BMI

EgyptAir Israir Airlines Japan Airlines S7 Airlines Singapore Airlines

^A Star Alliance member airline ^O Oneworld member airline

Fleet

The Transaero fleet includes the following aircraft (as of November 2011):

Transaero Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Passengers					Notes
			F	C	W	Y	Total
Airbus A320neo	—	8	TBA					launch customer in Russia
Boeing 737-300	4	—	—	8	42	72	122
Boeing 737-400	5	—	—	8	60	72	140
Boeing 737-500	14	1	—	8	42	51	101
Boeing 737-800	7	—	—	8	60	96	164	all equipped with winglets
Boeing 747-200B	3	—	—	12	—	484	496	All aircraft will be converted to freighters
Boeing 747-300	4	—	—	12	—	484	496
Boeing 747-400	12	11	—	12	—	509	521
			11	21	35	285	352
Boeing 767-200ER	3	—	—	16	—	214	230
			—	24	—	195	219
Boeing 767-300ER	10	—	—	12	117	106	235
			—	26	98	92	216
Boeing 777-200	1	—	12	14	167	113	306
Boeing 777-200ER	7	3	12	14	167	113	306
Boeing 777-300	4	—	4	14	131	222	371	ex-Singapore Airlines
Tupolev Tu-214	3	7	—	8	—	174	182
Total	77	30

Orders

Transaero has negotiated a deal with Continental Airlines to purchase 10 of their Boeing 737-500 aircraft still in their fleet. Transaero is also planning to replace all of its Boeing 747-200s with used Boeing 747-400s. The first replacement entered service at the end of 2007. It plans to convert the -200s into freighter versions to 'develop Transaero's cargo traffic'. In April 2010, Transaero arranged to lease 9 ex-Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 which are to enter the fleet in 2010-2012. In December 2010, Transaero announced that they would increase their order to 12 747-400 airliners. Transaero also ordered four Boeing 787s on 26 December 2011 but their order is not firm.

Transaero also holds unconfirmed orders for four Airbus A380s and four Boeing 747-8s, with the memorandum of understandings having been signed on 31 October 2011 and 9 November 2011, respectively.

Gallery

• 

  Transaero Boeing 737-400

• 

  Transaero Boeing 737-500

• 

  Transaero Boeing 747-200 landing at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport

• 

  Transaero Boeing 747-300

• 

  Transaero Boeing 767-200ER

• 

  Transaero Boeing 767-300ER

• 

  Transaero Boeing 777-300

• 

  Transaero Tu-214

Retired fleet

• Airbus A310
• Antonov An-124
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 737-700
• Boeing 757-200
• Ilyushin Il-86
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10

Cabin

Tourist Economy Class: Transaero's Economy Class features standard seat pitch, recline and width. The airline provides free food for Economy passengers and an In-Flight-Entertainment system is available for a small fee.

Premium Economy Class: Premium Economy Class offers the same seat width as Tourist Economy but a greater seat pitch of just under 35.5 inches and enhanced recline features for a recline of 29 degrees. Transaero also offers a larger choice of meals to Premium Economy travellers as well as an amenity kit for flights over 3 hours. The In-Flight-Entertainment system is available for a small fee. Passengers flying Premium Economy will also be able to make use of a dedicated check-in desk at selected airports.

Business Class: Business Class offers passengers a wider seat than Premium Economy along with additional legroom and deeper recline. Each seat has two armrests and In-Flight-Entertainment is free of charge and includes a larger selection of music, movies and television. The menus offer more choice, better quality food than Premium Economy and there are free taxi transfers from Moscow Airports on some international routes.

Imperial Class: Imperial Class is Transaero's First Class. The seats offer extra privacy and are the widest seats of all on the aircraft. The seat reclines fully flat to form a large bed for passengers and the food on offered is either Russian or European. Complimentary taxi transfers are available for Imperial Class passengers.

Accidents

There have been no incidents with fatalities to date.

External links

• Official website