Aurora (airline)

Aurora (Аврора) is a Russian airline headquartered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast. It operates domestic and international flights in the Russian Far East region. It is named after Russian cruiser Aurora.

History
Aurora was created by government order of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. In September 2013, Aurora (originally called Taiga) was created, combining Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines. SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Avia served 42 and 15 destinations respectively, and had a combined fleet of 24 aircraft plus 11 helicopters.

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

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

Key people
, Konstantin Sukhorebrik was the CEO.

Destinations
The airline serves two countries on 41 routes.

, Aurora flies internationally from its three bases located in Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladivostok. The international network includes Beijing-Daxing, Harbin.

Codeshare agreements
Aurora has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
 * Aeroflot
 * Khabarovsk Airlines
 * S7 Airlines
 * Yakutia Airlines

Current
The Aurora fleet comprises the following aircraft:

Historic
Aurora previously operated the following aircraft:
 * Boeing 737-200Adv
 * Boeing 737-500
 * Bombardier Dash 8-100
 * Antonov AN-24RV