Polar Airlines

State Unitary Enterprise "Aircompany "Polar Airlines"
ГУП «Авиакомпания «Полярные авиалинии»
IATA ICAO Call sign
PI RKA AIR SAKHA
Founded1997; 27 years ago (1997)
Operating basesYakutsk Airport[1]
Fleet size56
Destinations20
Parent companyGovernment owned
HeadquartersYakutsk, Russia
Key peopleAndrei Vasiliyevich Koryakin (General Director)[1]
Websitehttps://polar.aero/
Antonov An-26-100

Polar Airlines (Russian: Полярные авиалинии, Poljarnýe avialinii) is an airline based in Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia. It operates scheduled and charter passenger and cargo services.[2] In 2022, it became part of Russia's single far-eastern airline, along with four other airlines.[3][4]

History

The airline began operations in 1997. It was formed from the Batagai, Kolyma-Indigirka, Chukordakh and Tiksi sub-divisions of Aeroflot.[2]

Destinations

Polar Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations (as of January 2013):[5]

Russia Russia

Accidents and incidents

May 16, 2003
Antonov An-3T RA-05881 force-landed 28 mi from Sangara due to engine failure caused by bad weather; all 13 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[6]
November 18, 2005
Antonov An-2TP RA-02252 crashed on a mountain 19 mi from Sangar in bad weather; all 12 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[7]
November 21, 2012
Flight 227 (performed by Antonov An-26 RA-26061) from Yakutsk to Deputatsky overshot the runway on landing by 70 metres. The airline reported an icy runway as the cause. The plane received substantial damage[8] but no injuries were reported.[9]
July 2, 2013
Flight 9949, a Mil Mi-8 (registration RA-22657) crashed into a hill top 66 km from Deputatsky in the Sakha Republic. 19 of the 25 passengers and 3 crew were killed; of these deaths, several children were involved. 11 of the 25 passengers were children. A post-crash fire consumed the aircraft.[10][11]This was the first fatal accident for the airline.
August 16, 2013
Flight 9977, an Antonov An-2TP (registration RA-01419), made a forced landing near Vilyuisk following an unexplained engine problem; all 11 on board survived, but the aircraft was destroyed by a post-crash fire.[12]
October 11, 2016
Flight 203, an Antonov An-26 RA-26660 landed short of the runway at Belaya Gora Airport. The aircraft was severely damaged. All 33 people on board survived.[13]

Fleet

As of July 2012 the Polar Airlines fleet includes:[1][14]

Aircraft type Active Notes
Antonov An-2 5
Antonov An-3T 5
Antonov An-24 6
Antonov An-26 3
Let L-410 4
Mil Mi-8 28
DA40NG Diamond Star 2
Pilatus PC-6 Porter 1

References

  1. ^ a b c Federal State Unitary Enterprise "State Air Traffic Management Corporation", Airline Reference, Vol. 1, Russian Federation, 27 April 2007, p. 351
  2. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 64.
  3. ^ "О компании - «ЧукотАвиа»". chukotavia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  4. ^ "Авиакомпании Дальнего Востока перейдут на единый бренд". РБК (in Russian). 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  5. ^ "Карта полетов". Полярные Авиалинии. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  6. ^ Accident description for RA-05881 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2 July 2013.
  7. ^ Accident description for RA-02252 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Accident: Polar AN26 at Deputatsky on Nov 21st 2012, overran runway". avherald.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  10. ^ "Children die in air crash in Russia's Sakha Republic". BBC News. 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  11. ^ "19 people die in Russian helicopter crash: official". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  12. ^ Accident description for RA-041419 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2015-3-27.
  13. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-26-100 RA-26660 Belaya Gora Airport (BGN)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  14. ^ Polar Airlines fleet