Three more Russian airlines to join massive far-East merger

Three more Russian airlines serving the country’s far-East regions are going to be merged into a joint company, Russian media reports.

Yakutia, Polar Airlines and Khabarovsk Airlines will be merged with Aurora, which is posed to remain the only airline dedicated to serving the region.

The process of transferring the assets of the three companies to Aurora is still ongoing, according the airline’s CEO Konstantin Sukhorebrik, Russian news agency Interfax reports.

In September 2022, two other airlines – Chukotavia and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Enterprise – were already merged into Aurora.

A plan to create a joint Russian far-East airline was announced by the country’s president Vladimir Putin in 2019.

Aurora – a subsidiary of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot – was intended to be joined with other carriers in an effort to minimize spending and provide better services in the region, according to the plan.

Following the announcement, Aurora was decoupled from Aeroflot and transformed into a separate airline, while a host of smaller airlines, owned by regional governments, were prepared to be conjoined.

There has been no official announcement if more airlines, besides Yakutia, Polar Airlines and Khabarovsk Airlines, are intended to be merged.