Avia Traffic Company

Is Avia Traffic Company safe?

It has a clean record on deaths but a weak one on almost everything else. Avia Traffic has flown since 2003 without a fatal accident, and it holds the oldest certificate among Kyrgyz passenger airlines still flying. But a Boeing 737 was written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary after a mishandled go-around at Osh in 2015, the fleet is made up of 1990s-era jets, the airline has no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, and until June 2026 every Kyrgyz airline was on the EU's safety blacklist. Most of its international flights go to Russia. We score it 63, just below SCAT (64) and well below Somon Air (73), which has IOSA. Our confidence is low because so little about it is published.

What happened at Osh in 2015?

Flight YK768 started in Krasnoyarsk on 22 November 2015 and was meant to land at Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan. Fog closed Osh, so the crew diverted to Bishkek. There, with Osh still reporting fog and a forecast of worse, the captain decided to try again. On the approach, visibility was 500 metres and falling. The crew went around at decision height, but during the go-around the captain pushed the control column forward for five seconds, and the 737-300 kept descending and struck the runway.

The impact knocked out both hydraulic systems and damaged the right engine, which the crew shut down. With visibility now down to 50 metres, they turned back and made an emergency landing at Osh on one engine with flaps at 15 degrees. The jet touched down long and ran 529 metres past the runway end. Six passengers were taken to hospital with moderate injuries; there was no fire.

The MAK investigation listed a chain of causes: Kyrgyz rules and the airline's manual had no procedure for forecast weather deterioration on short flights, the crew judged the weather only on current reports, the captain had never practised a go-around in real low-visibility conditions, the first officer did not catch the pitch error, and the crew had been on duty for 13 hours. Most of those are airline training and procedure problems. With no other hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary and no deaths in 23 years, the accident record scores 80, the foot of the band for airlines without a fatal accident in 15 years.

A fleet of older jets

Avia Traffic flies Boeing 737-300s, a 1980s design, and early Airbus A320s. The Kyrgyz aircraft register of 2 September 2026 lists five: A320s built in 1993, 1994 and 1998, and 737-300s built in 1991 and 1995. Akchabar put the average age at 31.6 years. The airline had said it had seven aircraft in 2023, after an A320 about 24 years old joined in February. The 737 written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary at Osh had been built in 1990. In October 2026 FlightAware showed both types still in service, an A320 on Moscow Domodedovo to Bishkek and a 737-300 on Krasnoyarsk to Osh. There is no current-generation aircraft, so the fleet scores 36, the lowest of the factors.

What the EU delisting means

From 2006 until 8 June 2026, every airline certified in Kyrgyzstan was banned from EU airspace. The European Commission removed them all in its June 2026 update, citing the country's progress in strengthening safety oversight over 20 years. In October 2026 an ICAO validation mission to Kyrgyzstan's civil aviation agency ended without critical findings. The regulator also acts: in July 2026, after an MD-83 of Tez Jet collapsed a main gear while taxiing at Bishkek, an inspection found serious violations and the agency revoked Tez Jet's licence.

That is real progress, but it is recent. Kyrgyzstan is not on the FAA's IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary list, and Avia Traffic is not an IATA member and was not on IATA's IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary registry when we searched it on 28 October 2026. We start from neighbouring Kazakhstan's 72, then take off 10 points for an EU ban that ended less than five years ago and 5 for the missing IOSA. Oversight scores 57, the same as every Kyrgyz airline we rate.

Where it flies

Avia Traffic is mainly a link between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, where many Kyrgyz people work. In 2023 it listed routes to several Russian cities, Istanbul, Almaty and Dushanbe, plus domestic flights from Bishkek to Osh, Jalal-Abad and Razzakov. EASA's conflict-zone bulletin for Russian airspace, valid until 31 January 2027, warns of drone attacks that close airports at short notice and of GNSS jamming. At home, Osh fogs in winter, as the 2015 accident showed, and the southern airports sit in valleys ringed by mountains. The environment scores 50.

Incidents we found

Three technical returns or diversions, all on A320s more than 25 years old. On 4 August 2023 A320 EX-32007, flying Moscow Domodedovo to Bishkek, lost oil from its left engine in the climb; the crew held, then landed back at Domodedovo. The Kyrgyz civil aviation agency found worn rubber seals at the engine's angle gearbox and did not class it as a serious incident. On 28 October 2023 another A320 on the same route, with 191 people on board, had a problem with its right engine at 35,000 feet, about 100 nautical miles south of Samara. The crew declared an emergency, shut the engine down and landed safely in Samara. On 23 July 2025, 75 minutes into flight AVJ883 from Bishkek to Moscow, EX-32007 warned of low fluid in its yellow hydraulic system and returned to Manas. A failed seal on a check valve was the cause, and nobody was hurt.

On 9 June 2023 one of its 737-300s, climbing out of Bishkek for Osh, got a TCAS traffic alert from a Belarusian Air Force Il-76. The agency found no risk of collision and blamed the area controller, who had broken separation rules, so we do not count it against the airline.

Minor Kyrgyz events are rarely published, so this list may not be complete. Serious incidents score 60.

How to fly Avia Traffic sensibly

• Expect weather delays at Osh in winter, and accept them. The 2015 accident began with a decision to fly into fog. A cancellation is the safer outcome.
• On Russian routes, leave long connections. Drone alerts can close Moscow airports for hours.
• If you can choose, compare with an IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary airline. Between Bishkek and Moscow or Istanbul, airlines such as Uzbekistan Airways via Tashkent or Air Astana via Almaty carry that outside audit.

How we scored it

The accident record (80) is the strongest factor: no deaths in 23 years, but one written-off 737. Oversight (57) reflects the recently lifted EU ban and the missing IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, the fleet (36) averages more than 30 years, incidents (60) include three technical returns on its old A320s, and the environment (50) is shaped by Russian routes and mountain weather. Overall 63.