HISTORY OF AEROFLOT

Aeroflot is one of the world's oldest airlines, tracing its ancestry back to 1923.

The services of Aeroflot were vital for the development of the vast regions of the former USSR. During the Soviet period all civil air transportation in the country was performed by Aeroflot. The company did not only carry out the transportation of passengers and cargo, it was also responsible for serving the agriculture, the industry and the fisheries. Aeroflot even carried out numerous scientific missions, including several flights to the Arctic and to Antarctica.

       The ANT-20 "Maxim Gorkiy" appeared during the 1930's. It was a luxurious airliner carrying 75 passengers. The cabin's overall surface exceeded 100 m².

Aeroflot started with regular air mail services at an early date. This plane carried the daily newspaper "Pravda" to the country's remote regions (1935).

One of the more spectacular planes of the pre-war period - the "Rodina" ("Motherland") - was often flown by Aeroflot's female pilots (1936). Note the glass cockpit in the front.

The legendary ANT-6 provided a life-line to the polar stations in the Arctic. For the Papanin Expedition to the North Pole in 1937 the plane carried as much as 9 tons of precious cargo - food, scientific instruments, clothes, tents, boats, etc.

The ANT-6 at Arkhangelsk, after a flight to the North Pole (1937). These planes were painted in a striking combination of yellow and sky blue.

In 1940 Aeroflot started operations with the SP-30 (also known as Martin 156), usually referred to as the 'Glenn Martin' or 'Russian Clipper'. The SP-30 was an improved version of the Martin 130 - the famous 'China Clipper' operated by PanAm.

Aeroflot's huge, 70 seats 'flying boats' served the Russian Pacific coast.

In the end of the 1940'ies and beginning of the 1950'ies the Russian aviation industry developed several large propeller aircraft. Among these were the highly successful IL-12 and the improved IL-14.

The development of the IL-12 opened up a new age of in-flight comfort. Complimentary breakfast and refreshments were served to the passengers.

The 32 seats IL-14 was used mainly on secondary domestic routes. But it was also one of the few aircraft that have operated on regular service within the Arctic as well as Antarctic zones.

During the years dozens of new aircraft types have been developed for Aeroflot. On the 15th of September 1956 Aeroflot inaugurated the world's first sustained jet service by the introduction of the Tupolev 104 on the Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk route.

TU-104 set a number of official load-carrying and speed records.

At the time the next generation jet aircraft  TU-124 entered the stage, Aeroflot already carried 20 million passengers each year with a total fleet of 2,000 aircraft.

The TU-124 served medium sized cities in Russia as well as foreign destinations.

The development of the high-speed Tupolev 114 made it possible for Aeroflot to fly non-stop from Moscow to Tokyo and North America. Being able to fly more than 12 hours without landing, the TU-114 also served the Moscow-Conakry-Havana route with great success. With a length of 54 metres it remained the world's biggest aircraft until the construction of the Boeing 747.

The TU-114 entered Aeroflot services in 1963. In the 1960's its range of 8,950 km was truly impressive.

In 1975 Aeroflot entered the supersonic ages with the introduction of the Tupolev 144, an aircraft that cruised at 2,500 km/h - faster than its western counterpart, the Concorde.

The TU-144 operated along the Moscow-Alma Ata route at a speed of 2,500 km/h.

In 1986 Aeroflot carried out a very special flight. On 18 February that year an IL-76TD heavy freighter fitted with 90 seats, kitchen, medical and life-saving equipment took off from Moscow bound for the Antarctic. Ground staff at the Molodezhnaya Antarctic base had prepared for the arrival of the flight, rolling and rolling the runway for a full year. The runway was not of ice, but of snow, 82 metres thick. After an intermediate landing in Maputo the 200 tons IL-76 landed safely in the Antarctica.

The IL-76 is here seen at the Lazarevskaya Antarctic base. The base is named after a sunny resort on the Black Sea!

By 1967, Aeroflot had become the largest airline in the world. At the end of the 1980s the airline disposed of a fleet of 11,000 planes and helicopters and employed more than 600,000 staff all over the world. More than one-eighth of all air passengers in the world travelled on board an Aeroflot aircraft.

After the Russian Federation became a sovereign nation, Aeroflot's huge fleet was divided into some 400 independent airlines. The new Aeroflot - Aeroflot Russian International Airlines - was established in 1992 and operated only international flights out of Russia. In the years since, Aeroflot has again grown substantially, and today the company operates a number of domestic routes in addition to international services.

Aeroflot introduced western built aircraft types in 1992 with the Airbus A-310 wide-body jet. Later the Boeing 767 was added to its fleet, with the Boeing 737,  Boeing 777, Airbus 319, Airbus 320 and Airbus 321 being the most recent acquisitions.

The Airbus A-310 marked a new age for Aeroflot.

In 1994, the airline acquired Russian-made third generation Il-96-300 aircraft for international flights, which fully adhere to the noise standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization. In late 1995, the airline leased the DC-10-30F long-haul freight carrier.

For years, the DC-10 was seen every week at Oslo Airport Gardermoen, carrying fresh salmon to Tokyo.

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