Sochi - July 2007

Sochi, the Black Sea resort, is situated only a few kilometers north of the border of Georgia. The city will host the Winter Olympic games in 2014. Till then a lot has to be done, especially with the traffic situation.
Aviation wise the traffic is still very much in "the hands" of Tupolevs and Ilyushins and the terminal buildings date back to the 70s. A new terminal has been finished recently but not yet been openend for public.


Vladivostok Avia comes in low over the outskirts of Adler with their Tupolev Tu-154M RA-85689 arriving from over the sea heading for runway 06.



Rossiya operates a daily flight from Mosow-Vnukovo. The Ilyushin Il-62M RA-86466 is seen taxiing out of her stand in front of the little VIP terminal.



Samara Tupolev Tu-154M RA-85817 is thundering out of runway 24 heading out to the sea.



UT Air is seen several times a day operating Tupolev 134s and 154s to Sochi, mostly connecting St. Petersburg and Moscow-Vnukovo with the resort town. Built in 1976 for Interflug, RA-65609 is still going strong. She is seen taking off runway 24 in front of the huge radar dome erected on one of the surrounding hills.


S7 - Siberia is also using the russian workhorse Tupolev Tu-154M to Sochi, but sometimes the mighty Ilyushin Il-86 as well. While the 86 has to offer generous seating the Tu-154 feels rather cramped inside. Behind RA-85611 you'll find the city name on the hill in case you forgot where you were flying to..



To manage the huge amount of construction material used for the building of the different olympic sites helicopters are used. Sturdy Kamov Ka-32A RA-31090 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS Rossii) is perfectly suited for this task.

Antalya - October 2006

Many Russian carriers still use their first soviet widebody airliner intensivly. Although banned in the EC, the thirsty, roaring beast carries many sunhungry tourists to holiday destinations close and far.

Pulkovo Airlines, based at St. Petersburg-Pulkovo, in the meantime rebranded as Rossiya, is operating 5 aircraft of the type, RA-86106, the youngest in the family, offering 10 business class and 317 economy seats.

Kras Air, based at Moscow Domodedovo and Krasnoyask, operate 4 examples, all build in the early nineties. RA-86121 offerering 317 seats in economy class and also 10 seats in business.

Atlant Soyuz, based at Moscow Vnukovo has a proud fleet of 9 aircraft. RA-86125 saw service with Aeroflot, East Line, Eurasia, Sibir Airlines before she entered service with Atlant Soyuz.

Another example, RA-86138, still shows her heritage proudly still wearing the Aeroflot cheat line. The aircraft only joined her sisters in spring 2006, after a lease to Continental Airways. Atlant operates the giants with a seating capacity of 350 economy seat, truly a Russian jumbo!

Again RA-86106 of Pulkovo on her way north overflying AYT. A lot of those flights operate in a triangle, connecting Moscow with Sharm-el-Sheik and Antalya.

Colorful Ural Airlines has 4 aircraft in service operating from her base at Ekaterinburg-Koltsovo. RA-86093 is a vintage 1987 example and is seen shortly before touchdown on runway 36R one early morning.

Sibir Airlines, or S7, is boosting a fleet of 10 aircraft. RA-86104 was built for Aeroflot in 1989 , but also spent some time with Turkish Active Air, Transaero and Vnukovo Airlines.