Belavia

Belavia, formally Belavia Belarussian Airlines, is the flag carrier of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk.[2] The state-owned company had, as of 2007, 1,017 employees. Belavia serves a network of routes between Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as some Middle East destinations, from its base at Minsk National Airport.[3]

Following the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident on 23 May 2021, the airline has been banned from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

History

1933–1944

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.

1992–2020

Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus republic acquired a substantial fleet of aircraft, comprising 24 Tu-154s, 19 Tu-134s, 18 An-24s, 7 An-26s, and 8 Yak-40s. This fleet was initially part of the Belarusian Civil Aviation Association "Belavia".[5]

In 1996, the association underwent reorganization, leading to the formation of the national airline, Belavia, which subsequently joined IATA that same year. Belavia consolidated its operations by taking over Minskavia operations in 1998 and Mogilevavia in 2000. In 2003, the fleet expanded with the delivery Boeing 737-500, marking the first introduction of Western-manufactured aircraft in the nation.

Between 2003 and 2009, the airline saw its passenger numbers double and in 2009 handled just under 700,000 customers.[6]

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.[7] It was looking to lease two Bombardier CRJ-700s in 2010. Belavia had also planned to retire its remaining Tupolev Tu-154Ms by 2011 following he retirement of its last Tupolev Tu-134 in summer 2009 which was replaced by an ex-FlyLAL Boeing 737-500. On 27 June 2014, an order was announced for three Boeing 737-800 aircraft to be acquired directly by Belavia. The first of these was delivered in August 2016.[8]

In August 2016, Belavia received their first aircraft with their new livery. This is the first re-branding since the company's founding in 1996 on its 20 years anniversary. The new livery was applied a brand new Boeing 737-800. The much newer 737s replaced the aging Tupolev Tu-154s. On 1 October 2016, Belavia retired their two remaining Tupolev Tu-154s from scheduled services as one of the last airlines worldwide to do so.[9]

In 2019, the company employed nearly 1,900 people, and generated a turnover of 374 million euros with an operating result of 49 million euros. During this year it carried almost 4 million passengers, an increase of more than 15% compared to the 2018 figure.[10]

Several employees who participated in 2020 Belarusian protests were forced to leave their jobs.[11]

Sanctions from 2021

On 24 May 2021, the British government suspended Belavia's operating permit in response to the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident.[12] The European Union and Ukraine subsequently banned Belarusian airliners from entering their airspace or using their airports, effectively banning Belavia which led to the suspension of vast parts of their route network.[13][14]

Also in 2021, Belavia was accused of orchestrating the influx of illegal migrants during the Belarus–European Union border crisis.[15] In September 2021 it has been reported that Belavia might face to lose the majority of its current fleet as its lessors might be no longer allowed to lease them out to Belarusian airlines as part of new embargoes.[16] At this point Belavia owned 18 smaller, older aircraft, but had rented several modern jets from Western companies, with the Irish AerCap with six and the Danish Nordic Aviation Capital with seven aircraft being the most important suppliers.[17] On 16 November, the European Union confirmed the termination of all aircraft leases to Belarus by European lessors, which forces the airline to return half of their current fleet on short notice.[18][19]

On 2 December 2021, Belavia was added to the sanctions list of the European Union.[20] Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on 20 December.[21] On 8 April 2022, the US Department of Commerce restricted flights on Belarusian owned or operated aircraft manufactured in the US along with Aeroflot, Aviastar, Azur Air, Rossiya and Utair from flying into Belarus or Russia. On 16 June 2022 the US broadened its restrictions on Belavia after violations of the sanctions' regime were detected. The effect of the restrictions is to ground the US-manufactured part of its fleet.[22]

In August 2023, the United States added Belavia to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.[23] US sanctions were lifted in September 2025.[24]

In February 2024, Grodno Aviakompania, the only other passenger operator of the country, was merged and incorporated into Belavia by decree from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.[25]

airline	Belavia Белавія
fleet size	16
destinations	37
iata	B2
icao	BRU
callsign	BELARUS AVIA
parent	Government of Belarus
founded	5 March 1996
headquarters	Minsk, Belarus
key people	Igor Nikolaevich Cherginets, Director-general
hubs	Minsk National Airport
frequent flyer	Belavia Leader
revenue	520 million BYN (2020)‡R1R‡
net income	– 92 million BYN (2020)
website	belavia.by

History

1933–1944

1945–1991

1992–2020

Sanctions from 2021

Business trends

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

Fleet

Current fleet

Historic fleet

Incidents and accidents

Bibliography

External links

References