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Margovyan Airlines is a member of {{W|Star Alliance}}. The airline joined the alliance in 2014 to fill the void in the South American market created by the departure of {{W|LATAM Brasil|TAM Airlines}} due to their merger with {{W|LATAM Chile|LAN Chile}} to form {{W|LATAM Airlines Group}}, which joined {{W|Oneworld}}.
 
Margovyan Airlines is a member of {{W|Star Alliance}}. The airline joined the alliance in 2014 to fill the void in the South American market created by the departure of {{W|LATAM Brasil|TAM Airlines}} due to their merger with {{W|LATAM Chile|LAN Chile}} to form {{W|LATAM Airlines Group}}, which joined {{W|Oneworld}}.
 
===Codeshare agreements===
 
===Codeshare agreements===
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Margovyan Airlines has {{W|Codeshare agreements}} with the following airlines as of January 2020:
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*{{W|Air New Zealand}}
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*{{W|Avianca}}
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*{{W|Copa Airlines}}
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*{{W|Hawaiian Airlines}}
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*{{W|Lufthansa}}
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*{{W|South African Airways}}
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*{{W|Swiss International Air Lines}}
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*{{W|TAP Air Portugal}}
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*{{W|United Airlines}}
   
 
==Fleet==
 
==Fleet==

Revision as of 12:53, 20 September 2020

Margovyan Airlines (Russian: Марговские авиалинии, Margovskiye avialinii, Spanish: Líneas Aéreas Margovianas), also known historically until 2009 as Margovyan National Airlines, is the flag carrier of the Republic of Margovya. The airline was founded in 1952 during the term of Mstislav Andropov from the merger of two other airlines in the country, Aviakompaniya Margovya-Nord and Transportes Aereas de Sur de Margovya and is the oldest extant airline in Margovya.

From its hubs of Juana Arbatskaya International Airport in Arbatskaya City, Arbatskaya and Leonid Pankavuranov International Airport in Andufa, Bonjoaya, Margovyan Airlines serves 30 destinations in Margovya and 30 overseas destinations in South America, North America, Australia, Europe, and Africa. Margovyan Airlines operates a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft with Boeing 737, Airbus A321, Airbus A330, Boeing 777, Airbus A340, Airbus A380, Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 in service.

History

Early years

The first Margovyan airline was set up in Bonjoaya just three years after the end of the Margovyan Revolution. Aleksey Povidov established the Aviakompaniya Margovya-Nord (Margovya-North Air Company) using Khristenko Khr-3 bombers converted to freight and airliner service as an alternative service to the Andufa-Laduva Railroad, which suffered from delays due to damages sustained to the line during the revolution. Within five years, AKMN had expanded its network to include major cities within the Marginalia and Lukorev Districts of Margovya.

In Arbatskaya, a group of Peruvian, Bolivian and Brazilian investors founded Transportes Aéreas de Sur de Margovya (South Margovya Air Transport) in 1930, offering connections between Arbatskaya City, Manaus, and Trinidad, Bolivia. Margovyan personnel replaced the foreigners as the latter withdrew from the airline, and TASM became fully owned and staffed by Margovyans by 1940. TASM expanded its operations into both Margovya and neighboring countries after the end of World War II, acquiring surplus aircraft to serve its growing network.

By the 1950s, the finances of both AKMN and TASM had gone negative due to their aggressive expansion of their networks. The owners of both companies, Aleksey Povidov and Jose Castrovich, agreed to merge their companies to improve their financial situation. The holding company Grupo de Aerolíneas Nacionales de Margovya (Group of National Airlines of Margovya) was formed to purchase the stocks of the two companies, and the union took the name of Margovyan National Airlines. AKMN and TASM ceased to operate as independent entities on 1 May 1952.

The first airplanes acquired as Margovyan National Airlines were ten Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations which were dispatched to serve routes to other South American capital cities. In 1953, Margovyan National Airlines inaugurated a weekly Arbatskaya City–BogotáPanama CityTegucigalpaMexico CityLos Angeles flight flown by a Super Constellation; at 4,682 miles this was their longest route at the time. In 1957 the airline opened an Arbatskaya City–CayenneDakarMadrid route to announce their entry into the European market.

Into the jet age

After noting the success of the de Havilland Comet in service with Aerolíneas Argentinas, Margovyan National Airlines became the second South American airline to order the British-made jetliner. The first of four Comets ordered by the airline arrived in Arbatskaya City on 13 December 1960. Comet flights to Madrid began on June 1961.

In the early 1960s, Margovyan's fleet consisted of four Comets, ten Super Constellations, 14 Douglas DC-6s, and nine Douglas DC-4s. Due to their familiarity with Douglas aircraft, Margovyan National Airlines placed orders for the Douglas DC-8 Series 30 with the intention of using those to augment and eventually replace the airline's Comet fleet. Margovyan National would eventually become the largest operator of the type in South America, with as many as 32 DC-8s in its fleet in the late 1970s. This made Margovyan stand out among its continental competitors which operated the DC-8's rival airliner, the Boeing 707.

The airline was nationalized in 1966 by Juan Barbarov. Under the Barbarov administration, Margovyan National Airlines became the first and only South American carrier to order the Ilyushin Il-62 in order to serve a new Arbatskaya City–Madrid–Moscow route. The first Il-62s arrived in 1970, and a total of nine aircraft would eventually go into service by the end of Barbarov's term in 1974. But even as Barbarov engaged in warmer relations with the Soviet bloc, Margovyan National Airlines still sourced the majority of their aircraft from the Americans; in 1968 the airline reached an agreement with Douglas Aircraft Company to acquire at least 15 McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 aircraft to replace the aging turboprops in the fleet.

The first half of the 1970s marked an era of technological innovations and of breaking records. On 2 May 1972, a Margovyan National Airlines Ilyushin Il-62 commanded by Captain Venyamin Rambuv flew from Andufa to Honolulu and then to Manila. Starting 1974, Margovyan National opened regular weekly services to Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand with a technical stop in Ushuaia, Argentina on both routes.

Margovyan National Airlines added the Boeing 737 and Boeing 747 to its fleet in 1976, with the 737 serving on domestic and short-haul international routes and the 747 on the airline's flagship routes and destinations with high demand. That same year, Margovyan National set up a subsidiary, Central Margovyan Air System, and leased to it their DC-9 fleet.

The airline received its first Airbus A320 aircraft in the mid-1990s.

Re–privatization and rebranding

In October 2007, the Margovyan government sold a 75 percent stake in Margovyan National Airlines to the holding company Grupo de Aerolíneas Nacionales de Margovya S.A. as part of sweeping reforms enacted by then newly elected president Gennady Elemat. The airline's new president Innokentiy Povidov initiated a rebranding program wherein the airline was renamed simply as Margovyan Airlines and an updated modernized corporate identity was introduced. These changes took effect on 1 July 2009.

Between 2010 and 2014, Margovyan Airlines and its regional affiliates became targets for the political terrorists fighting against the administrations of Gennady Elemat and subsequently Viktoriya Vegova, with over 20 aircraft damaged or written off and almost 400 people killed during the terror campaign. These attacks prompted the European Union to place Margovyan Airlines on the list of blacklisted airlines which were not allowed to enter the airspace of any EU member state in 2012. The United States also released an advisory advising its citizens to reconsider travel to Margovya by way of Margovyan Airlines. At the height of political terrorism in 2013, the airline announced losses averaging 75 million margots per month due to both the security concerns and the EU ban. Margovyan wet-leased an Airbus A340-300 from Aerolíneas Argentinas and a Boeing 767-300ER from LAN Chile (now known as LATAM Chile) to continue operating in the EU.

Over 70 employees of the airline, mostly mechanics and baggage handlers, were arrested between 2016 and 2018 in connection with the attacks. Investigations revealed that these employees assisted political terrorist groups such as William's Boys and Mikhail Chick Group in smuggling bombs onboard the target aircraft or sabotaging the aircraft systems to malfunction in-flight. Pavel Konev decried the arrests, accusing the government of Mstislav Pankavuranov of "breaking up the airline workers' unions in all but name". Margovyan Airlines was removed from the EU blacklist in 2018.

Margovyan Airlines suspended all domestic and international services due to the national lockdown imposed by the government throughout the country brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic on 28 February 2020. Margovyan Airlines flew repatriation flights to bring back Margovyan citizens stranded in Australia, Spain, Russia and the United States between March and June 2020.

Margovyan Airlines announced a target date of 31 July 2020 to resume limited domestic and international services, but the resumption was pushed back to 7 August due to concerns about the rising infection rates in neighboring Brazil.

Corporate affairs

Ownership and subsidiaries

Between 1966 and 2007, Margovyan Airlines (then known as Margovyan National Airlines) was completely owned by the government of Margovya. The airline returned to private ownership on October 2007. Domestic low-cost carrier Centravia and regional airlines Margovya SurAero and Margovyan Domestic Express are listed as subsidiaries of Margovyan Airlines.

The airline mainly operates from two primary hubs in Andufa's Leonid Pankavuranov International Airport and Arbatskaya City's Juana Arbatskaya International Airport. Early in its operating history, Andufa was the hub for Margovyan Airlines' routes to Central and North America while Arbatskaya City was the center of its South American services, although there was some overlap with regards to destinations in Peru, Colombia, and northern Brazil. With the advent of more advanced jet aircraft capable of flying longer distances, the airline was finally able to reach its destinations from both hubs.

As of March 2020, the airline had 12,383 employees.

Destinations

Main article: List of Margovyan Airlines destinations

Alliances

Margovyan Airlines is a member of Star Alliance. The airline joined the alliance in 2014 to fill the void in the South American market created by the departure of TAM Airlines due to their merger with LAN Chile to form LATAM Airlines Group, which joined Oneworld.

Codeshare agreements

Margovyan Airlines has Codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of January 2020:

Fleet

Accidents and incidents