RUSSIA: Nordwind Airlines Leasing Two Boeing 777-300ER Widebody Airliners

Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines is leasing two Boeing 777-300ER widebody airliners from Dubai-based lessor DAE Capital (part of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise). The aircraft were previously operated by EVA Air of Taiwan.

To implement its feeder strategy, which covers 200 destinations, in the coming fall-winter season, Nordwind Airlines continues to expand its widebody fleet and is preparing to put two Boeing 777-300s into operation.

The first of the two aircraft arrived at the airline’s home base Sheremetyevo on August 31.

Following the requisite customs procedures, in early September the airliner will start performing charter flights from Moscow.

The carrier will receive the second aircraft next week.

The two Boeings, to be registered as VP-BJL and VP-BJO, were built in 2005.

They will become the first airliners in Nordwind’s fleet to have a three-class cabin layout,312 seats in total: 38 in business, 63 in premium economy, and 211 in coach.

Nordwind already operates four Boeing 777-200s, which seat 393 passengers in two classes.

The new addition will bring the carrier’s total fleet up to 22 aircraft.

It also has Airbus A330-200s, A321s, and additional four airframes are expected to be delivered by year-end.

Nordwind’s passenger traffic grew 85.4% year-on-year in January-July 2017, reaching 1.598 million; its seat load factor droped by 2.9 percentage points to 86.9%.

Nordwind Airlines is a Russian scheduled and charter airline.

The company is headquartered in Moscow, with its main hub at Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Nordwind Airlines primarily operates service between airports in Russia and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Nordwind Airlines was founded in August 2008 by the Russian and Turkish branches of tour operator Pegas Touristik, initially operating 3 Boeing 757-200 aircraft to/from 6 cities.

Since then, the fleet has been greatly expanded, including the introduction of the Airbus A321 and the Boeing 767-300.

By 2015, Nordwind operated service to/from 33 cities.

In 2017, the company expanded its fleet with 2 A330s.

The number of passengers transported was as follows:

Year Passengers
2008 20,000
2009 555,000
2010 1.2 million
2011 1.7 million
2012 2.2 million
2013 3.4 million
2014 4.4 million


Nordwind operates service to Europe, Middle East and Africa,South America and Asia.



Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: NordStar Airlines Passes IATA Operational Safety Audit

Russia’s NordStar Airlines has successfully undergone an IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) confirming its compliance with more than 1,000 internationally approved aviation safety standards, the carrier reports.

NordStar’s IOSA certificate is valid through August 2018.

Annual audit is required to renew the approval.

Successful completion of the safety checks makes the airline eligible for joining IATA.

However, in its official statement NordStar gave no notion of its intention to do so.

Eleven Russian airlines are currently members of the international association.

Theser are Aeroflot and its subsidiary Rossiya Airlines, Nordavia, Nordwind Airlines, Pegas Fly, S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines, UTair Aviation, Vim Airlines, and also two cargo carriers: Volga-Dnepr and its subsidiary AirBridgeCargo.

NordStar Airlines, part of the Russian mining and smelting corporation MMC Norilsk Nickel, is Russia’s 15th carrier by passenger traffic.

Between January and July 2017 it carried 783,800 passengers, up 9.9% on the same period last year.

Its seat load factor increased 5 percentage points to 77.5%.

The airline sees its primary mission in providing air services between Krasnoyarsk Region in Siberia and major cities elsewhere in Russia.

The airline operates a fleet of five ATR 42-500 regional turboprops, a Boeing 737-300, and nine 737-800s.




Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Nordwind Airlines Wants Two Boeing 777-300ERs

Russian carrier Nordwind Airlines is leasing two Boeing 777-300ER widebody airliners from Dubai-based lessor DAE Capital,part of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise.

The aircraft were previously operated by EVA Air of Taiwan, DAE Capital reports.

To implement its feeder strategy, which covers 200 destinations, in the coming fall-winter season, Nordwind Airlines continues to expand its widebody fleet and is preparing to put two Boeing 777-300s into operation.

The first of the two aircraft is to arrive at the airline’s home base Sheremetyevo on August 31. Following the requisite customs procedures, in early September the airliner will start performing charter flights from Moscow.

The carrier will receive the second aircraft next week.

The two Boeings, to be registered as VP-BJL and VP-BJO, were built in 2005. They will become the first airliners in Nordwind’s fleet to have a three-class cabin layout - 312 seats in total: 38 in business, 63 in premium economy, and 211 in coach.

Nordwind already operates four Boeing 777-200s, which seat 393 passengers in two classes.

The new addition will bring the carrier’s total fleet up to 22 aircraft. It also has Airbus A330-200s, A321s.

Additional four airframes are expected to be delivered by year-end.

Nordwind’s passenger traffic grew 85.4% year-on-year in January-July 2017, reaching 1.598 million; its seat load factor droped by 2.9 percentage points to 86.9%.



Tourism Observer