Rossiya Airlines

A now-retired Rossiya Tu-134A-3 in the old livery at Pulkovo Airport

The airline Rossiya was established in 1992 and was wholly owned by the Russian government. In the early 2000s the Russian government decided to merge Rossiya Airlines with Pulkovo Airlines. The merger process began in December 2004.[3] In November 2006 it was announced that the merger had been completed and Rossiya Airlines was registered in Saint Petersburg on 9 October 2006 and has a branch in Moscow and 54 offices in Russia and abroad.[4]

The current head office of Rossiya Airlines

In February 2010, the Russian government announced that all state-owned regional airlines managed by holding company Rostec would be consolidated into flag carrier Aeroflot to increase financial viability.[5]

On November 16, 2011, 75% minus 1 share of Rossiya Airlines JSC was transferred to Aeroflot. In December, 25% plus 1 share were donated to the Government of Saint Petersburg. In accordance with the decree of the city government of December 23, 2011, the main purpose of the transfer is to ensure the implementation of the powers of the Executive bodies of Saint Petersburg to organize the development of the city's transport complex.

Rossiya Airlines' Airbus A320 wearing old livery at Pulkovo International Airport

In December 2011, a decree was signed by the Government of Saint Petersburg on accepting a gift of 25 % of the airline's shares from Rostec. 229,726 ordinary registered non-documentary shares were transferred to the city. The nominal value of one security is 1 thousand rubles. In total, Saint Petersburg has now become the owner of a blocking stake — 25 % plus one voting share.[6]

In 2014, the commercial management of Rossiya Airlines JSC was transferred to the parent company Aeroflot. Since the spring-summer schedule, flights of Rossiya Airlines have been operated under a single code for the Aeroflot Group of companies. Rossiya Airlines became a participant in the Aeroflot Bonus frequent-flyer programme.[5]

In December 2015 Aeroflot Group announced the unification of its regional airline affiliates Rossiya, Donavia (based at Rostov-on-Don Airport[7]) and Orenair (with hubs at Orenburg Tsentralny Airport and Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport[8]) under the name Rossiya (the name of the largest of the three). The consolidation excluded Aurora, a small airline headquartered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.[9] Rossiya, Donavia and Orenair served 48 domestic and 42 international destinations; the new Rossiya will add some destinations served by Transaero Airlines prior to its collapse in October.[10] As of end of February 2016 the merger of the three airlines was completed and joined flights of three airlines started on 27 March of the same year.[11] On March 27, 2016, Rossiya Airlines Donavia and Orenair, which are other subsidiaries of Aeroflot, were integrated under the brand of Rossiya.[11]

Simultaneously with the presentation of the updated company, the air carrier started the process of rebranding. A new airline livery has been developed and implemented, as well as the tradition of naming Russian cities to aircraft – the first of them are Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd. The name and coat of arms of the city are placed on the forward part of the fuselage under the cockpit. The rebranding project was carried out by the Otvetdesign Agency. The main task in developing the new corporate identity of Rossiya Airlines was to create a bright, recognizable, memorable, filled with semantic communication visual image of the airline. The modernized corporate identity is intended to emphasize the modern scale of the company. When launching the rebranding, great importance was given to the continuity of the previous logo and at the same time to give it new modern features. The brand name of the logo is made in the form of an inversion trace from the aircraft. Its writing-stroke emphasizes the dynamic nature of the new brand. The given image is also developed in the system of graphic elements of corporate identity, starting from aircraft liveries and ending with business documentation.

An element that looks like a blade is the basis of the corporate pattern of the aircraft livery. Its plastic and shape complement the company's logo. The element consists of modules that graphically repeat the image of the turbine. The pattern changes its density from the nose of the aircraft to its tail - it becomes more saturated, as if following the flow of air. This technique helps to convey the feeling of flight, movement, even when the plane is on the ground. The name of the airline is printed on the lower part of the fuselage in corporate font.[12]

In April 2016, the airline introduced the first Boeing 747-400 in a new livery, named after Saint Petersburg.[13]

In July 2014, Rossiya Airlines became the official carrier of Zenit Saint Petersburg football club.

In early October 2014, the airline and the football club announced a contest «Paint the Zenit’s aircraft!», in which more than two hundred participants from all regions of Russia and other countries competed for the right to become the author of the new aircraft livery. The competition jury, headed by FC Zenit head coach Andre Villas-Boas, determined the winner to be a sketch of Sergei Skrebnev. His version of the special livery was chosen to be applied to the A319 aircraft with the tail number VQ-BAS.

On October 29, 2014, the aircraft was delivered to the Netherlands for painting.[27] On November 11 of the same year, the liner was presented at Pulkovo International Airport.[28][29]

Boeing 747 of Rossiya Airines in Tigrolet livery

In September 2016, Rossiya Airlines together with the Amur Tiger Center presented a Boeing 747 (EI-XLD) aircraft named after Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in a special tiger livery. The nose of the aircraft was decorated with an image of the head of the Siberian (Amur) tiger.

The goal of the project is to attract public attention to the conservation of populations of rare species of wild animals. The airliner operates the most popular routes to the cities of the Far East and popular resort destinations within Russia. The aircraft made its first flight on September 11 to Vladivostok.[30]

Rossiya Airlines' Boeing 777 in Leolet livery

In February 2017, Rossiya Airlines unveiled Boeing 777-300 (EI-UNP) named after the city of Ussuriysk, featuring the muzzle of the Far Eastern (Amur) leopard, the rarest of all leopard subspecies. The project was implemented jointly with the Autonomus non-profit organization Far Eastern Leopards. The decision to replenish the fleet with an aircraft in the original livery was made in order to support environmental initiatives carried out within the Framework of the Year of Ecology in Russia.

The aircraft performs flights on the most popular and socially significant routes to the cities of the Far East and popular domestic and international resorts.[31]

Rossiya Airlines' Airbus A319 in Sportolet livery

On May 29, 2018, the airline received an Airbus A319 VQ-BCP Rostov-on-Don in a new exclusive livery dedicated to Russian sports. The main elements of the special sports livery are stylized images and attributes representing four sports — football, hockey, gymnastics, and figure skating — combining winter and summer varieties, team and individual sports, which are popular among the Russian general public. All elements of the image are stylized by polygonal graphics that complements the style of Zenitolet livery. The creative concept and design of the project were developed and implemented by the airline's specialists.

In June 2018, a competition to choose a name for the airliner in a new unique sports livery was announced on the airline's social network. During the week, the contestants offered more than 130 different names. The most popular was Sportolet.[32]