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A Belavia Tupolev Tu-154M at Frankfurt Airport, Germany. (2008)

A Belavia Tupolev Tu-134 at Kazan Airport, Russia. (2008)

Republic Unitary Enterprise "National Aircompany "Belavia" (Belarusian: Рэспубліканскае унітарнае прадпрыемства «Нацыянальная авіякампанія «Белавія»; Russian: Республиканское унитарное предприятие «Национальная авиакомпания «Белавиа»), operating as Belavia Belarusian Airlines is the national airline company of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk.^[1] The state-owned company is the Belarusian flag carrier. Belavia serves a network of routes between European cities and the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as some Middle East destinations. Its base is Minsk International Airport.^[2] The airline has 1,017 employees.^[2] In the last six years, the airline has seen passenger number double and in 2009 handled just under 700,000 customers.^[3]

History [link]

On 7 November 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 1 February 1985, a Soviet Tupolev Tu-134 crashed near Minsk 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 nationalised and renamed. Between then and 1998 Belavia opened regular routes to Beijing, Istanbul, Larnaca, London, Prague, and Rome.

In 1998, Belavia merged with Minsk Avia, 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 with Tu154s and Tu134s. 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. 2011 opened the airline its route between Minsk and Helsinki-Vantaa in Finland. This flight is a joint service with Finnair

Three leased Bombardier CRJ 100 aircraft were introduced on regional services from Minsk. The first one was delivered in February 2007, with the other two later in 2007. They directly replaced the aging Antonov An-24 and Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft.^[4]

The government is reportedly also considering merging regional carrier Gomelavia and cargo operator Trans Avia Export into Belavia.

Destinations [link]

Belavia flies to Asia, Europe and Africa from its base at Minsk International Airport. In addition to scheduled destinations listed here, Belavia operates charter flights to leisure destinations and VIP charters.

Codeshare agreements [link]

Belavia has codeshare agreement with the following airlines:^[5]

Fleet [link]

Current [link]

The current Belavia fleet consists mostly of newer western regional and short-to-medium range twinjets and aging Tupolev trijets. Western-built aircraft are used on all routes, unlike the Tupolevs, which are used mostly for charter services.

The fleet also includes governmental Boeing BBJ2, Bombardier Challenger 850 and Tupolev Tu-154M.

As of November 2, 2011, the Belavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Belavia Fleet

A Belavia Boeing 737-300 taxiing at Frankfurt Airport, Germany. (2009)

Belavia Boeing 737-500 taking off at Frankfurt Airport, Germany. (2010)

A Belavia Bombardier CRJ200 at Berlin Schönefeld Airport, Germany (2010).

At October 2010, the average age of western-built Belavia fleet was 12.5 years.^[13]

Belavia is considering adding longhaul aircraft to its fleet to introduce new routes to China and North America.

It was looking to lease two Bombardier CRJ-700 in 2010.^[14]

It is planning to retire its remaining Tupolev Tu-154Ms by 2011 following the retirement of its last Tupolev Tu-134 in summer 2009 which was replaced by an ex-FlyLAL Boeing 737-500.

Past fleet [link]

Incidents and accidents [link]

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 6 January 2003 just after the aircraft entered Czech airspace; two Czech Air Force fighters accompanied the plane to a safe landing in Ruzyně International Airport.^[20]

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

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Belavia

• Official website
• Belavia Fleet

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