Rosaviatsiya and Rostourism are considering the possibility of making Red Wings airline the base carrier of the main airport of Crimea in Simferopol, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday, citing Sergei Savostin, who is the executive director and member of the board of directors of the company.

Savostin explained the possible choice of Red Wings by the fact that a number of large Russian airlines, with which negotiations were also conducted, have a risk of falling under sanctions from the West.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Transport held a meeting at which the issue was raised about the need to expand the presence of Russian airlines in Crimea on the eve of the summer holidays. For this purpose, it was considered expedient to base one of the carriers in Simferopol.

Along with Red Wings, which has still not restored its business scale after the crash of the Tu-204 airliner at Vnukovo, Grozny Air may become the base carrier. Both airlines do not fly internationally very much, their fleet consists only of domestic aircraft. This means that if new sanctions are introduced by the West, companies will be able to continue flying to Crimea without hindrance.

Red Wings' fleet consists exclusively of domestic Tu-204 aircraft, so it does not depend on foreign suppliers of spare parts. In addition, all aircraft are registered in the Russian registry, which eliminates any possibility of sanctions from foreign lessors. The Grozny Avia fleet also consists of Russian vessels (Yak-42).

“If the EU and the US suddenly announce new sanctions, then carriers whose ships are leased from foreign companies, and whose foreign route network is widely developed, will receive more risks than benefits from servicing Crimean destinations,” the publication quotes the head of the analytical service “Airport” as saying. "Oleg Panteleev.

According to Savostin, it is possible that a separate airline will be created with state participation based on Red Wings.

Red Wings Airlines is based in Domodedovo. The fleet consists of eight Tu-204s leased from IFC.

On December 29, 2012, a Tu-204 aircraft of Red Wings Airlines, flying from the Czech Republic, rolled off the runway when landing at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, rolled onto the Kyiv highway and fell apart. A fire broke out. There were 8 people on board. Of these, five people died, three received injuries of varying severity. Among the dead is the aircraft commander.

In February 2013, the Federal Air Transport Agency suspended the Red Wings' air operator certificate. One of the reasons was also the unsatisfactory financial condition of the carrier.

In April 2013, Red Wings owner Alexander Lebedev announced that he had sold 100% of the airline for 1 ruble. The air carrier's debts for leasing eight Tu-204 aircraft from IFC were then estimated at 1.5 billion rubles. The new owners of Red Wings are the brother of the co-owner of the Guta group, Sergei Kuznetsov, and the investment group GHP Group.

In June 2013, Red Wings received a renewed air operator certificate.

Red Wings may become the base air carrier of Crimea