Aviation History
Russian aviation dates to the Imperial era, when engineer Igor Sikorsky built some of the world's first large multi-engine aircraft before the 1917 revolution. Soviet civil aviation was organized under state control starting in the 1920s, eventually consolidated into Aeroflot, which became the world's largest airline by fleet size during the Soviet period. Soviet-era engineering produced notable milestones, including early jet airliners and a supersonic transport. The 1991 Soviet collapse fragmented Aeroflot into numerous independent post-Soviet carriers, and Russia's aviation sector has since gone through cycles of consolidation and, more recently, severe disruption tied to geopolitics.
Engineer Igor Sikorsky designed the Ilya Muromets in Imperial Russia, among the world's first successful four-engine aircraft, later adapted as a heavy bomber.
Dobrolet was established as an early Soviet civil aviation company, laying groundwork for what would become a unified state airline.
Soviet civil aviation was consolidated under the Aeroflot name, becoming the country's sole airline for the rest of the Soviet era.
The Tupolev Tu-104 became one of the world's first jet airliners in sustained scheduled passenger service, alongside the British Comet.
The Tu-144 made its first flight in late 1968, becoming the first supersonic transport aircraft to fly, narrowly ahead of the Anglo-French Concorde.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union split Aeroflot's assets among newly independent states, spawning dozens of successor carriers across the former USSR.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet, Russia's first major post-Soviet civil aircraft program, completed its maiden flight.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions cut off aircraft leasing, spare parts, and much international airspace access for Russian carriers, a situation still evolving.
Aeroflot · S7 Airlines · Ural Airlines · Pobeda (low-cost)
General aviation history sources; the post-2022 sanctions situation is volatile and details (fleet access, route restrictions) may have changed since research date.
Aviation Firsts
Khodynka Aerodrome — Moscow (1910): Approved 17 June 1910, officially opened 3 October 1910 — Russia's first airport, remained Moscow's only airport until Bykovo opened in 1933. Closed 2003, site fully redeveloped by 2016 — the oldest airport ever in Russia, not the oldest currently operating. · Wikipedia ↗
Pulkovo Airport — St. Petersburg (1932): Opened 24 June 1932. A candidate for Russia's oldest currently-operating airport, but no source explicitly confirms it holds that title — flagged as unconfirmed rather than asserted. · LED ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Khodynka (1910) is the oldest airport ever built in Russia but closed in 2003; Pulkovo (1932) is a candidate for oldest still-operating, but no source explicitly confirms that title.
Aeroflot (1932): Actually incorporated 25 February 1932 (the name 'Aeroflot' formally adopted 25 March 1932) when the Chief Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet took over all Soviet civil aviation. Aeroflot's 'since 1923' marketing rests on 3 February 1923 (recognized as the beginning of Soviet civil aviation generally) and on Dobrolyot (founded March 1923, merged/renamed through to Transaviatsia in 1932) — Wikipedia's own account does not support treating 1923 as Aeroflot's actual founding. · SU ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Swissport (Switzerland), 2013: Swissport signed a partnership with Service-VS at Vnukovo Airport in 2013, reported by trade press as paving the way for 'Swissport's market entry into the Russian Federation.' Best documented case found, not confirmed as the literal first foreign entrant ever. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Air Cargo News ↗