UTair Transports 9.3 Million Passengers in 2012

OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2013. UTair Group, the largest international aviation group in the world with operations on four continents, shows impressive growth in 2012 according to operational results statements for the year in review.

For the period from January to December 2012 UTair Group aircraft transported 9,385,398 passengers, 24.3% more than in 2011. Traffic increased by 29.4% over the previous year and reached 16,072,900.2 PKM. According to data from the Transport Clearing House, the Russian industry average for growth in this indicator in Russia was 17.3%.

In the realization of the 2012 UTair Group program involved the largest domestic largest domestic civil aviation fleet with more than 200 fixed wing aircraft and 350 helicopters. UTair aircraft spent a total of 463,847 hours in the air, 16.7% more than for the same 12 month period in 2011. UTair Group aircraft transported 192,702.2 tons of cargo in 2012, exceeding the results of 2011 by 9.1%. Seat occupancy on aircraft for the accounting period reached 74.3%, 1.2% more than in 2011.

In 2012 the UTair Group fleet saw the addition of three long-haul wide-body Boeing 767-200 aircraft. Fleet expansion and modernization has enabled the Group to expand its route network, opening Ѓ@more than 30 new routes to Russian and foreign destinations in the past year, including routes to Fergana, Thessaloniki and Kiev, Trabzon and Yerevan, Baku, Lviv, Tambov, Makhachkala, Yoshkar-Ola and Kursk, from St. Petersburg to Khanty-Mansiysk, Tomsk and Noyabrsk. Connecting flights between Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Novosibirsk and Blagoveshensk, Arkhangelsk and Naryan-Mar have also been launched.

UTair Airlines rotary-wing aircraft performs a wide range of aviation services, including the transportation of oversized cargo, VIP passenger transport on specially equipped aircraft, fire-fighting and search and rescue operations in Russia and abroad throughout the year. UTair helicopters continue to play a major role in construction efforts in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, performing transport and construction works in the area of Krasnaya Polyana. Given the extensive experience of flying in difficult mountain conditions, UTair Airlines plans to expand helicopter operations in the North Caucasus.

In the spring of 2012 a UTair Mi-26T helicopter performed a unique operation for the transportation of two Mi-26T helicopter fuselages with an external sling over a distance of 2000 km.

The growth of the UTair mission portfolio is supported by modernization of its helicopter fleet: this year will see the addition of new Eurocopter AS350/355, Robinson R-44 and Mi-171 helicopters to the rotary wing fleet.

In May 2012, the UTair Personnel Training Centre and Eurocopter marked a year of successful cooperation during which 70 pilots and engineers were trained for operations with AS 350B3 and 355N/NP helicopters in Eurocopter certified training programs in Tyumen.

The UTair Group consists of many of the most highly qualified specialists in the aviation industry. In 2012 more than 130 employees were awarded with departmental and internal recognition for outstanding performance. The UTair Mi-8 international flight crew under Commander Sergei Ignatov received the Igor Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Services presented by the International Helicopter Association.

UTair Group consists of a range of companies performing air transport operations, maintenance and repair of aircraft and rotorcraft, training of flight personnel, flight services and sales. UTair Aviation is the core enterprise of UTair Group, consisting of UTair Aviation, UTair Express, UTair-Ukraine, UTair-Cargo, Turukhan Airlines, Nefteyugansk, Vostok, Helisur, UTair Europe s.r.o., UTair South Africa Ltd and UTair India alongside UTair-Technik and UTair Engineering. UTair Group headquarters are located in Surgut, with subsidiaries in Surgut, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansiisk, Moscow and other cities of Russia and around the globe.