Nordwind Airlines, LLC (Russian: ООО «Северный ветер», romanized: Severný veter) is a Russian leisure airline. The company is headquartered in Moscow,[3] and its hub is at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Nordwind Airlines primarily operates service between airports in Russia and holiday destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.[4][failed verification]
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Founded | 2008; 14 years ago (2008) | ||||||
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Operating bases | Sheremetyevo International Airport | ||||||
Subsidiaries | Pegas Fly | ||||||
Fleet size | 42 | ||||||
Destinations | 74 | ||||||
Parent company | Pegas Touristik[1] | ||||||
Headquarters | Moscow, Russia | ||||||
Key people | Shvetsov Igor (General Director)[2] | ||||||
Website | https://nordwindairlines.ru/en |
Nordwind Airlines was founded in August 2008 by the Russian and Turkish branches of tour operator Pegas Touristik and initially operated three Boeing 757-200s.[5][6]
The number of passengers transported was as follows:[7]
Year | Passengers |
2008 | 20,000 |
2009 | 555,000 |
2010 | 1.2 million |
2011 | 1.7 million |
2012 | 2.2 million |
2013 | 3.4 million |
2014 | 4.4 million |
On April 29, 2013, two surface-to-air missiles were fired by unknown forces in Syria at a Nordwind Airlines jet flying from Sharm El Sheikh to Kazan. The pilots took evasive action and the plane continued onto Kazan undamaged.[8]
In 2017, the airline acquired two used A330s.[9]
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nordwind transported approximately 7.4 tons of gold with a market value over $300 million from Venezuela to a refinery near the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. These March 2019 shipments allegedly expose a global underground economy the United States government suspects helps Nicolás Maduro stay in power in Venezuela.[10]
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Nordwind suspended all international flights.[11]
Nordwind serves 98 destinations in 28 countries including nine countries and 23 cities in Europe, eight countries and 12 cities in the Middle East and Africa, four countries and four cities in South America, and six countries and 14 cities in Asia.
As of May 2022, Nordwind Airlines fleet comprises the following aircraft:[23]
Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
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C | Y | Total | ||||
Airbus A321-200 | 10 | — | — | 220 | 220 | |
Airbus A321neo | 2 | — | — | 218 | 218 | |
Airbus A330-200 | 4 | — | — | 361 | 361 | |
1 | 7 | 358 | 365 | |||
Airbus A330-300 | 4 | — | 34 | 259 | 293 | |
1 | — | 408 | 408 | |||
Boeing 737-800 | 17 | — | 12 | 156 | 168 | |
— | 189 | 189 | ||||
Boeing 777-200ER | 3 | — | — | 440 | 440 | |
Boeing 777-300ER | 4 | — | — | 486 | 486 | |
6 | 480 | 486 | ||||
Irkut MC-21-300 | — | 5[citation needed] | TBA | |||
Total | 46 | 5 |
The fleet previously included the following aircraft:
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) Media related to Nordwind Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
Members of the International Air Transport Association | |||||
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