Metrojet (Russian airline)

Kogalymavia
Авиакомпания Когалымавиа
d.b.a. Metrojet

IATA ICAO Callsign 7K[1] KGL[1] KOGALYM[1]
Founded	1993 (as Kolavia) 2012 (rebranded to Metrojet)
Ceased operations	2015(Temporarily Suspension of Operations)[2]
Hubs	Domodedovo International Airport[1]
Secondary hubs	Kogalym International Airport[1] Pulkovo Airport
Focus cities	Vladivostok International Airport[1]
Fleet size	6
Destinations	16
Key people	Nikolai Nikolayevich Zolnikov, General Director[1]
Website	metrojet.ru

Kogalymavia (Russian: ООО «Авиакомпания Когалымавиа»), DBA Metrojet (IATA: 7K, ICAO: KGL), is a Russian airline based in Kogalym, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.^[3] Its home base is Kogalym International Airport, with the main hub being Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow.^[4] It temporarily suspended all operations in December 2015.^[5]

History

Former Metrojet logo

Kogalymavia started operations in May 1993. Since 2005 the airline flew mostly international charter services to leisure destinations under the brand name Kolavia.

In May 2012, Kogalymavia changed its marketing branding from Kolavia to Metrojet^[6][7] as part of their then newly established joint-venture with TUI Russia & CIS, a subsidiary of German tourism company TUI Travel.^[8] Up until August 2014, when the joint-venture was broken up,^[8] Metrojet operated on behalf of TUI^[9][10] and has flown independently since.

On 31 October 2015, Metrojet charter flight 7K9268 crashed in Egypt, after being bombed, killing all 224 people on board.

On 5 December 2015, Metrojet suspended all remaining operations after a severe decrease of passengers due to the aforementioned incident and the security situation at its primary leisure destinations in Egypt. It announced to review all operations and might resume services in summer 2016.^[5] It filed for bankruptcy in March 2016.^[11]

Destinations

Metrojet Airbus A321-200 in its former TUI Travel livery

A former Kolavia Tupolev Tu-154B

Metrojet operated the following routes:

from Moscow-Domodedovo

•  Austria (Salzburg)
•  Azerbaijan (Qabala)^[12]
•  Bulgaria (Burgas, Varna)
•  Croatia (Pula)
•  Czech Republic (Pardubice)
•  Egypt (Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, Taba)
•  Spain (Barcelona, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca)
•  France (Grenoble)
•  Greece (Rhodes, Heraklion)
•  Italy (Treviso, Rimini)
•  Montenegro (Tivat)
•  Turkey (Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman)

from Vladivostok

•  Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo)
•  South Korea (Seoul)
•  Vietnam (Da Nang)

Fleet

A Kogalymavia Airbus A321-200, operating as MetroJet seen on approach to Kansai International Airport in October 2013. Two years later, this airframe was destroyed in the crash of Flight 9268.

The Kogalymavia fleet included the following aircraft, as of August 2016:^[13]

Metrojet fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers		Notes
			Y	Total
Airbus A321-200	3	—	219 220	219 220	All stored
Total	2	—

Retired fleet

Metrojet and its predecessor Kolavia also operated the following aircraft in the past:

• 2 Airbus A320-200^[14]
• Antonov An-24
• Tupolev Tu-134
• Tupolev Tu-154B
• Tupolev Tu-154M
• 5 Airbus A321-200 (4 sold, one written off)^[15]

Accidents and incidents

• 1 January 2011: Flight 348. A fire broke out on one of the engines of a Tupolev Tu-154B-2, tail number RA-85588, before taxiing. The aircraft had 116 passengers and 8 crew on board, and was due to operate a flight, a Surgut–Moscow service. It was evacuated seconds before the flames engulfed the fuselage. Three people were killed and 43 passengers injured.^[16][17][18]
• 31 October 2015: Flight 9268, an Airbus A321-200 charter flight with 224 people on board, en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg, crashed on the Sinai Peninsula. All 217 passengers and seven crew members perished.^[19] The reasons for this crash are still under investigation. This air crash was named as the biggest and the most fatal in the history of the airline, Russian and Soviet aviation; and the Airbus A320 Family's history.
• 5 November 2015: Flight 9267 operated for S7 Airlines suffered a collapse of its nose gear following an incident during pushback at Saint Petersburg Airport in Russia. The flight was operated by EI-ETL, an Airbus A321-200.^[20]

References

1. Federal State Unitary Enterprise "State Air Traffic Management Corporation", Airline Reference, Vol. 1, Russian Federation, 29 January 2008, p. 244
2. http://www.ibtimes.com/metrojet-ordered-cease-airbus-a321-operations-egypt-condemns-britains-travel-ban-2170549
3. "Адреса и телефоны авиакомпании KOLAVIA." Kolavia. Retrieved on 18 July 2010. "Юридический и почтовый адрес: 628486, РФ, Тюменская область, г.Когалым, ул.Авиаторов"
4. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 102.
5. aerotelegraph.com - "Grounding: Russian Metrojet suspends all flights" (German) 5 December 2015
6. "После ребрендинга "Когалымавиа" летает под брендом MetroJet". Vesti.ru. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
7. "Что такое Metrojet: Чем известна компания, ранее называвшаяся "Когалымавиа". Коротко — Meduza". Meduza.io. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
8. "Flug 7K9268: Was ist Kogalymavia für eine Airline? - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
10. Archived 28 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
11. Metrojet files for Bankruptcy
12. Yagubov, Elvin (25 July 2014). "New flight launched from Gabala to Moscow". apa.az/. Azeri-Press Agency (APA) LLC. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
13. ch-aviation.com – Kolavia retrieved 1 November 2015
14. airfleets.net - Metrojet Russia retrieved 1 November 2015
15. https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Metrojet-Russia
16. David Kaminski-Morrow (4 January 2011). "Tu-154 fire started in rear fuselage, not engines: inquiry". Flightglobal.com. Air Transport Intelligence news. Retrieved 12 June 2011. The fire, which broke out as the jet prepared to taxi for a flight to Moscow, killed three occupants of the aircraft.
17. David Kaminski-Morrow (1 January 2011). "Fatal fire destroys Kolavia Tu-154 at Surgut". Flightglobal.com. Air Transport Intelligence news. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
18. "Russia pop group Na-Na describe plane fire 'panic'". BBC News. 1 January 2011.
19. Yusri Mohammed (31 October 2015). "Flight 7K9268 plane crash: Russian passenger jet with 224 people on board crashes over Egypt". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
20. http://www.airlive.net/2015/11/breaking-metrojet-a321-front-wheel.html

External links

Media related to Kolavia at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Russian)