OAO Kuban Airlines (russian: link=no, ОАО «Авиакомпания Кубань») was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It operated domestic flights within Russia, as well as international charters. Its main base was

Krasnodar International Airport Krasnodar International Airport (russian: Международный аэропорт Краснодар), also known as Pashkovsky Airport (russian: Аэропорт Пашковский), ( IATA: KRR, ICAO: URKK) is the main airport serving th ...

. Its name comes from

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

Province in southern Russia. On 11 December 2012 Kuban Airlines ceased operations due to financial difficulties.

History

Kuban Airlines was founded as a division of

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

in 1932. It became an independent company in 1992, owned by the state (51%) and the airline employees (49%). In February 2010, Kuban Airlines introduced a new livery to its first

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

aircraft. The new livery was a dark green background with sunflowers running from the back half of the fuselage and up the tail. The engines were also coloured in dark green. On 18 May 2010, Kuban Airlines announced the receipt of their first of four ordered

s. The airline also announced that beginning in 2011 their

Yakolev The JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau (russian: ОАО Опытно-конструкторское бюро им. А.С. Яковлева) is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport D ...

aircraft were to be retired and replaced by new

Antonov An-148 The Antonov An-148 ( ua, Антонов Ан-148) is a regional jet designed and built by Antonov of Ukraine. Development of the aircraft was started in the 1990s, and its maiden flight took place on 17 December 2004. The aircraft completed its ...

Boeing 737-700 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

aircraft.

Merger with Sky Express

In September 2011, it was announced that

n low-cost carrier

Sky Express CJSC Sky Express (russian: ЗАО «Небесный Экспресс»), simply known as Sky Express and in Russian as ''Скай Экспресс'', was a Russian low-cost airline. Its main base was Vnukovo International Airport, Moscow, Russi ...

was to be merged into Kuban Airlines. On 29 October 2011, the two airlines merged, bringing

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a ...

and

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

aircraft into the Kuban Airlines fleet.

Destinations

Fleet

The Kuban Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft in November 2012:

Previously operated

Prior to November 2012, the airline has also operated:

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

, 3–9 October 2006 *

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irku ...

Tupolev Tu-154M The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian ...

Yakovlev Yak-42 The Yakovlev Yak-42 (russian: Яковлев Як-42; NATO reporting name: "Clobber") is a 100/120-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet developed in the mid 1970s to replace the technically obsolete Tupolev Tu-134. It was the first airli ...

– Retired on 1 November 2012

References

External links

Kuban AirlinesKuban Airlines
(Archive) {{Airlines of Russia Airlines established in 1992 Airlines disestablished in 2012 Former Aeroflot divisions Defunct airlines of Russia Companies based in Krasnodar