Aurora (airline)

For the defunct airline, see Aurora Airlines.
Aurora
Aurora Airbus A319-100
IATA ICAO Call sign
HZ SHU AURORA
FoundedNovember 2013 (2013-11)
Commenced operations8 December 2013 (2013-12-08)
Operating bases
Hubs
Fleet size19
Destinations32[1]
Parent companySakhalin Region Development Corporation
HeadquartersYuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia
Key people
  • Konstantin Sukhorebrik (CEO)
Websiteflyaurora.ru/en/

Aurora (Russian: Аврора) is a Russian airline headquartered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast.[2] It operates domestic flights in the Russian Far East region and international flights to and from destinations in China. It is named after the Russian cruiser Aurora.[3][4] As of June 2025, the airline is banned from flying into the EU like all other Russian airlines.[5]

History

Aurora was created by government order of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in September 2013.[4][6][7] Originally called Taiga, it combined Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines.[6][7] SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Air served 42 and 15 destinations respectively, and had a combined fleet of 24 fixed-wing aircraft, along with 11 helicopters.[4]

Aurora began operations on 8 December 2013 serving the Khabarovsk – Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo route.[8][9][10][11] The carrier's first aircraft was an Airbus A319-100, with a new aircraft livery.[12] In December 2015, the airline received the first of three Bombardier Q400 aircraft it had on order.[13]

Aurora was 51%-owned by Aeroflot, with the regional government of Sakhalin Oblast holding the balance.[4][14] An initial investment of RUB 430 million was provided by Aeroflot through a loan.[15] In December 2020, Aeroflot sold its 51% stake in Aurora to Sakhalin Region Development Corporation for ₽1.[16][17] In 2022, Aurora was merged with five Russian regional airlines, Khabarovsk Airlines, Chukotavia, Kamchatka Air Enterprise, Yakutia Airlines, and Polar Airlines, to create a single far-eastern airline for Russia.[18]

Key people

As of October 2016, Konstantin Sukhorebrik was the CEO.[19]

Destinations

The airline serves two countries on 41 routes.[1][20]

As of April 2024, Aurora flies internationally from its three bases located in Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladivostok. The international network includes Beijing-Daxing,[21] Harbin[22] and Shanghai-Pudong[23] airports in China.

Country City Airport Status
Russia Khabarovsk Khabarovsk Novy Airport Hub
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport Hub
Vladivostok Vladivostok International Airport Hub
China Beijing Beijing Daxing International Airport
Harbin Harbin Taiping International Airport
Shanghai Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Codeshare agreements

Aurora has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Current fleet

As of August 2025, Aurora operates the following aircraft:[28]

Aurora fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A319-100 8 — 128
Bombardier Dash 8-200 2 — 37 Used on charter flights.
Bombardier Dash 8-300 1 — 50
Bombardier Dash 8-400 5 — 70
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-400 3 — 19
Ilyushin Il-114 — 19 TBA
Yakovlev SJ-100-95 — 8 87 To be delivered in 2026.
Yakovlev MC-21-310 — 10[29] TBA To be delivered from late 2027 to 2030.[29]
Total 19 37

Former fleet

Aurora previously operated the following aircraft:[30]

References

  1. ^ a b "Aurora on ch-aviation". ch-aviation.
  2. ^ "Aurora". CAPA.
  3. ^ Montag-Girmes, Polina (11 November 2015). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airlines wins IOSA approval". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d "New Aurora Airline Set to Serve Far East". The Moscow Times. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ "The EU Air Safety List" (PDF). European Commission. 3 June 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b Borodina, Polina (13 June 2013). "Aeroflot to launch Far East subsidiary in 3Q". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b Borodina, Polina (10 September 2013). "Russia's Aeroflot creates Far East subsidiary Taiga Airline". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Aurora Begins Khabarovsk – Karsnoyarsk [sic] Service from Dec 2013". Airline Route. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013.
  9. ^ Baklitskaya, Kate (7 November 2013). "New airline offers the world a route to some of Russia's remotest and most exotic destinations". The Siberian Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Russian airline brand Aurora turns to Landor Associates for brand strategy and identity". The Drum. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Aeroflot Presented New Subsidiary – United Far Eastern Airline "Aurora"" (Press release). Aeroflot. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
  12. ^ Borodina, Polina (6 November 2013). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airline set to launch operations". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013.
  13. ^ Montag-Girmes, Polina (4 May 2016). "Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airline 1Q traffic up 22%". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016.
  14. ^ Montag-Girmes, Polina (9 June 2015). "Russia's Aurora Airline to double passengers, fleet in 2018". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015.
  15. ^ Borodina, Polina (25 October 2013). "Aeroflot provides a $13.5 million loan for Far East subsidiary". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
  16. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (17 December 2020). "Aeroflot Group to divest eastern carrier Aurora". FlightGlobal.
  17. ^ "Aeroflot Sells Subsidiary To Boost Russian Far East Air Transport". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 23 December 2020.
  18. ^ VENCKUNAS, VALIUS (21 October 2022). "Three more Russian airlines to join massive far-East merger". Aerotime.
  19. ^ Montag-Girmes, Polina (17 October 2016). "Aurora Airline predicts traffic will increase 20% in 2016". Aviation Week & Space Technology.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ^ "Aurora Flights and Destinations - FlightConnections". www.flightconnections.com.
  21. ^ "Aurora Adds Seasonal Sakhalinsk – Beijing Service in NS24". AeroRoutes. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Авиакомпания "Аврора" увеличивает количество рейсов из Южно-Сахалинска в Харбин". www.flyaurora.ru. Aurora Airlines. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  23. ^ Строева, Вероника (12 November 2025). "Хабаровск - Шанхай: авиакомпания "Аврора" запустит новые рейсы". Дальневосточное обозрение (in Russian). Amur Media. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  24. ^ a b "Авиакомпания "Аврора" объявила о запуске регулярных рейсов по маршруту Якутск — Улан-Удэ". NewsYkt. 7 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Korean Air / Aurora begins codeshare partnership from July 2018". Routesonline. 12 July 2018. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  26. ^ Liu, Jim (29 September 2016). "Aurora / S7 Airlines expands codeshare network in W16". Routesonline. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  27. ^ Liu, Jim (18 January 2018). "Aurora adds Vladivostok – Beijing route from Jan 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Aurora". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 71.
  29. ^ a b "Aurora Airlines expects to receive ten MS-21 aircraft by 2030". Aviation21.ru. 9 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Russia's Aurora ends B737 operations". ch-aviation. 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2017.

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