Polar Airlines

State Unitary Enterprise Airline, Polar Airlines
ГУП «Авиакомпания «Полярные авиалинии»
IATA ICAO Call sign
PI RKA AIR SAKHA
Founded1997 (1997)
Operating bases
Yakutsk Airport[1]
Fleet size2
Destinations20
Parent companyGovernment owned
HeadquartersYakutsk, Russia
Key peopleAndrei Vasiliyevich Koryakin (General Director)[1]
Websitehttps://polar.aero/
Antonov An-26-100

Polar Airlines (Russian: Полярные авиалинии, Poljarnýe avialinii) is an airline based in Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia. It operates scheduled and charter passenger and cargo services.[2] In 2022, it became part of Russia's single far-eastern airline, along with four other airlines.[3][4] It is currently banned from flying in the EU.[5]

History

The airline began operations in 1997. It was formed from the Batagai, Kolyma-Indigirka, Chukordakh and Tiksi sub-divisions of Aeroflot.[2]

Destinations

Polar Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations (as of January 2013):[6]

Russia Russia

Accidents and incidents

  • May 16, 2003: Antonov An-3T RA-05881 force-landed 28 mi from Sangara due to engine failure caused by bad weather; all 13 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[8]
  • November 18, 2005: Antonov An-2TP RA-02252 crashed on a mountain 19 mi from Sangar in bad weather; all 12 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[9]
  • November 21, 2012: Flight 227 (performed by Antonov An-26 RA-26061) from Yakutsk to Deputatsky overshot the runway on landing by 70 metres. The airline reported an icy runway as the cause. The plane received substantial damage[10] but no injuries were reported.[11]
  • July 2, 2013: Flight 9949, a Mil Mi-8 (registration RA-22657) crashed into a hill top 66 km from Deputatsky in the Sakha Republic. 19 of the 25 passengers and 3 crew were killed; of these deaths, several children were involved. 11 of the 25 passengers were children. A post-crash fire consumed the aircraft.[12][13] This was the only fatal accident for the airline.
  • August 16, 2013: Flight 9977, an Antonov An-2TP (registration RA-01419), made a forced landing near Vilyuisk following an unexplained engine problem; all 11 on board survived, but the aircraft was destroyed by a post-crash fire.[14]
  • October 11, 2016: Flight 203, an Antonov An-26 RA-26660 landed short of the runway at Belaya Gora Airport. The aircraft was severely damaged. All 33 people on board survived.[15]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of August 2025, Polar Airlines operates the following aircraft:[16]

Aircraft In fleet Notes
De Havilland Canada DHC-8-Q300 2
Total 2

As of July 2012 the Polar Airlines fleet included the following aircraft:[1][17]

Aircraft typeActiveNotes
Antonov An-25
Antonov An-3T5
Antonov An-246
Antonov An-26 3
Let L-4104
Mil Mi-828
DA40NG Diamond Star2
Pilatus PC-6 Porter1

References

  1. 1 2 3 Federal State Unitary Enterprise "State Air Traffic Management Corporation", Airline Reference, Vol. 1, Russian Federation, 27 April 2007, p. 351
  2. 1 2 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 64.
  3. ↑ "О компании – «ЧукотАвиа»". chukotavia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  4. ↑ "Авиакомпании Дальнего Востока перейдут на единый бренд". РБК (in Russian). 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  5. ↑ "The EU Air Safety List – European Commission". transport.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  6. ↑ "Карта полетов". Полярные Авиалинии. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  7. ↑ "Батагай — Аэропорты Севера" (in Russian). Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  8. ↑ "Accident description for RA-05881". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Accident description for RA-02252". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Accident: Polar AN26 at Deputatsky on Nov 21st 2012, overran runway". avherald.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  12. ↑ "Children die in air crash in Russia's Sakha Republic". BBC News. 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  13. ↑ "19 people die in Russian helicopter crash: official". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  14. ↑ "Accident description for RA-041419". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  15. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-26-100 RA-26660 Belaya Gora Airport (BGN)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  16. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2025 – Polar Airlines". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 73.
  17. ↑ Polar Airlines fleet
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