An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes outside Moscow killing 174.
Aeroflot Flight 217 was a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Orly Airport in Paris to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, with a stopover at Shosseynaya Airport (now Pulkovo Airport) in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). On 13 October 1972, the Ilyushin Il-62 airliner operating the flight crashed on approach to Sheremetyevo, with the loss of all 164 passengers and crew of 10. The fatalities include 118 Russians, 38 Chileans, 6 Algerians, one East German and one Australian. At the time, it was the world's deadliest aviation disaster, until it was surpassed by the Kano air disaster in 1973. As of 2021, this remains the second-deadliest accident involving an Il-62, after LOT Flight 5055, and the second-deadliest on Russian soil, after Aeroflot Flight 3352.
PJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines (Russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", PAO Aeroflot — Rossiyskiye avialinii), commonly known as Aeroflot (English: or (listen); Russian: Аэрофлот, transl. "air fleet", pronounced [ɐɛrɐˈfɫot]), is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation. The airline was founded in 1923, making Aeroflot one of the oldest active airlines in the world. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the airline flew to 146 destinations in 52 countries, excluding codeshared services. The number of destinations was significantly reduced after many countries banned Russian aircraft; as of 8 March 2022, Aeroflot flies only to destinations in Russia and Belarus.From its inception to the early 1990s, Aeroflot was the flag carrier and a state-owned enterprise of the Soviet Union (USSR). During this time, Aeroflot grew its fleet to over five thousand domestically made aircraft and expanded to operate a domestic and international flight network of over three thousand destinations throughout the Soviet Union and the globe, making the airline the largest in the world at the time. In addition to passenger flights, Aeroflot also committed to freight operations and serving the state through transportation and military assistance. Following the dissolution of the USSR, the carrier was restructured into an open joint-stock company and embarked on a radical transformation process. Aeroflot shrank the fleet dramatically while at the same time purchasing Western aircraft and newer domestic models and focusing on expanding its international market share before moving to boost its domestic market share.
By the end of 2017, Aeroflot controlled roughly 40% of the air market in Russia. Aeroflot owns Rossiya Airlines – an airline based in Saint Petersburg, Pobeda – a low-cost carrier, and 51% of airline Aurora, based in the Russian Far East. Altogether, Aeroflot and its subsidiaries own 359 aircraft as of 31 December 2019, composed mainly of Airbus, Boeing, and domestic models such as the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Aeroflot also formerly had a cargo subsidiary named Aeroflot-Cargo, though the branch later merged with the parent airline.Aeroflot became a member of SkyTeam in April 2006, making it the first carrier in the former Soviet Union to do so. As of March 2020, the Russian Government owns 51% of Aeroflot through the Federal Agency for State Property Management, with the rest of the shares being free-floating.