Aeroflot: Taking To The Skies For 90 Years
Published 7 February 2013
February 9, 1923 is considered the date when Aeroflot was established, heralding the birth of Russian civil aviation. Despite being criticized for its safety record -- with 127 crashes in the 90 years it has been in existence -- millions of people still use Aeroflot every year. RFE/RL takes a look back at some memorable images from this iconic airline's eventful history. (15 PHOTOS)
1 An ANT-14 plane on the Moscow-Leningrad route in 1936.
2 A Tu-104A passenger plane on display at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy in Moscow in 1959.
3 Aeroflot passenger planes parked at Moscow's Vnukovo airport in 1959.
4 An Il-18 airliner is escorted by MiG-15 fighters during an air show in Tushino in 1961.
5 Even though it enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the Soviet Union for many years, Aeroflot still went to the trouble advertising, such as this iconic sign on top of Moscow's Metropol Hotel in 1965.
6 The Aeroflot Hotel on Moscow's Leningrad Avenue in 1966
7 An Aeroflot outlet in Chisinau in 1971.
8 Aeroflot's main hub, Sheremetyevo International Airport, as it looked in 1972.
9 The Aeroflot office in Paris in 1974.
10 A supersonic Aeroflot TU-144 passenger jetliner in 1973.
11 An Aeroflot flight attendant in Tajikistan in 1982.
12 An Aeroflot poster from 1983
13 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 Classic jetliners at Sheremetyevo airport in 2005.
14 An Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 jetliner completes its descent at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in 2012.
15 Aeroflot stewardesses stand in front of a passenger plane with the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games logo in Moscow in May 2012.