Early years
What is now S7 Airlines started in 1957 as "the Tolmachevo united squadron" of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union disintegration and during the 1990s Russian economic reforms, a state-run Siberia Airlines was created based on the squadron in 1992 and later privatized in 1994, the same year Siberia was assigned an IATA airline code.[9]
In 1997, Siberia Airlines tried to buy Vnukovo Airlines, to make Moscow its next main hub, but the purchase did not proceed. After the 1998 Russian financial crisis, Vnukovo Airlines was heading towards bankruptcy, and Siberia Airlines offered to merge the two airlines, but Vnukovo refused. In 1999, Siberia Airlines signed a document offering to take over Vnukovo Airlines, in the event Vnukovo ceased operations due to insolvency.[10]
Development 2000–2009
Siberia Airlines began merging with Vnukovo Airlines in 2001. The same year, the airline absorbed Baikal Airlines and then in 2004, the airline absorbed Chelyabinsk Airlines and Enkor.[11]
Siberia Airlines acquired its first non-Russian aircraft, Airbus A310, in 2004. In the summer of 2004, during the Farnborough Airshow, the company signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase fifty Sukhoi Superjet 100s, with the first to be delivered in 2007. However, the airline subsequently dropped its plans to order this aircraft, citing that the aircraft's changed specifications no longer met its requirements.[12]
Siberia Airlines rebranded itself as S7 Airlines in 2005.[9]
In line with an International Air Transport Association (IATA) resolution, from December 2006 the airline began to publish its fares for international destinations originating in Russia in euros, rather than US dollars. This resulted in a fare increase, as the conversion rate used was 1 euro = 1 US dollar. Fuel surcharges were also published in euros. Its domestic fares were still to be shown in the local currency.[13] Also in December 2006, the airline became the second Russian air carrier to complete, and pass, the IATA Operational Safety Audit, which is the first global air safety standard.[14]
In April 2007, S7 announced that it had set up a new division, called Globus, focused on charter flights for tourists to foreign holiday destinations. Initially, the aircraft for this division were drawn from the mainline fleet, but during 2010–2014, ten Boeing 737-800 aircraft were leased with an all-economy layout, with the option for a further ten aircraft.[15]
Development 2010–COVID
S7 joined the Oneworld airline alliance in 2010.[16]
In November 2015, S7 Airlines offered to acquire a majority stake in the bankrupt Transaero; the proposal was subsequently rejected by shareholders.[17]
In 2016, the American band OK Go partnered with S7 to film a "zero-g" music video for their song "Upside Down & Inside Out", aboard a reduced gravity aircraft.[18][19]
On 28 August 2018, S7 would invest $192.87 million in a new manufacturing plant in Moscow, part of its Victory business plan. In December 2018, a few months after the completion of its purchase of Sea Launch
Development 2022–present
In February 2022, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, S7 and other Russian airlines were banned from EU airspace and that of other countries.[26][27] This led to S7 suspending operations in Europe on 25 February 2022 and a suspension of all international flights by 5 March 2022.[28] The owner of aircraft leased to S7 Airlines, AerCap, is seeking to repossess their aircraft.[29] In April 2022, S7 was suspended from Oneworld.[30] In July 2022, S7 announced a halt to all plans for its new low-cost subsidiary Citrus due to the required aircraft not being delivered. The US Commerce Department, who had previously sanctioned US manufactured aircraft, extended sanctions to the European manufactured Airbus aircraft in S7's fleet in August 2022.
