Aurora (airline)

Aurora is a Russian airline headquartered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast.[1] It operates domestic flights in the Russian Far East region and international flights to and from destinations in China. It is named after the Russian cruiser Aurora.[2] As of June 2025, the airline is banned from flying into the EU like all other Russian airlines.[3]

History

Aurora was created by government order of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in September 2013. Originally called Taiga, it combined Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines. SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Air served 42 and 15 destinations respectively, and had a combined fleet of 24 fixed-wing aircraft, along with 11 helicopters.

Aurora began operations on 8 December 2013 serving the Khabarovsk – Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo route.[4][5][6][7] The carrier's first aircraft was an Airbus A319-100, with a new aircraft livery.[8] In December 2015, the airline received the first of three Bombardier Q400 aircraft it had on order.[9]

Aurora was 51%-owned by Aeroflot, with the regional government of Sakhalin Oblast holding the balance.[10][11] An initial investment of RUB 430 million was provided by Aeroflot through a loan.[12] In December 2020, Aeroflot sold its 51% stake in Aurora to Sakhalin Region Development Corporation for ₽1.[13][14] In 2022, Aurora was merged with five Russian regional airlines, Khabarovsk Airlines, Chukotavia, Kamchatka Air Enterprise, Yakutia Airlines, and Polar Airlines, to create a single far-eastern airline for Russia.[15]

Key people

As of October 2016, Konstantin Sukhorebrik was the CEO.[16]

Destinations

The airline serves two countries on 41 routes.[17][18]

As of April 2024, Aurora flies internationally from its three bases located in Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladivostok. The international network includes Beijing-Daxing,[19] Harbin[20] and Shanghai-Pudong[21] airports in China.

Fleet

External links