Smartavia

Is Smartavia safe?

Smartavia scores 54, a lower score that rests on two things. The first is history: as Aeroflot-Nord, the airline lost a Boeing 737 at Perm in 2008 with 88 people on board, and the investigation blamed its own management as well as the captain. The second is the present: since 2022 Smartavia has been on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, and its small fleet of Boeing and Airbus jets has no support from the manufacturers. Its last decade has been far quieter than its first. The crash is now more than 15 years old but still inside our 20-year window, so it keeps the accident record at the floor of its band.

One airline, four names

Smartavia began as Arkhangelsk Airlines, the regional airline of Russia's far north. After Aeroflot bought a majority stake it flew as Aeroflot-Nord, often on Aeroflot SU flight numbers. By 2010 it flew as Nordavia, and it now sells tickets as Smartavia, with bases in Arkhangelsk and St Petersburg. Through all of this it kept its own operating certificate and the AUL designator, which ICAO lists with the call sign "Archangelsk Air".

That matters for scoring. Under our rules an accident counts against the airline whose certificate and crew flew the aircraft, so the Perm crash belongs to Smartavia, not to Aeroflot. Aeroflot's page describes it but does not count it.

The Perm crash and what came after

SU821, 14 September 2008. A Boeing 737-500 from Moscow Sheremetyevo crashed on the outskirts of Perm during a night approach in cloud, killing all 88 on board. The final report from MAK, the Interstate Aviation Committee, found that the captain lost spatial orientation with the autopilot and autothrottle off. He had flown Tu-134s and An-2s before and was not trained well enough on the Western-style attitude display. Alcohol was found in his body, and his recent work schedule broke national fatigue rules.

MAK went further than the cockpit. It called the airline's management of its 737 flying and maintenance the "systemic cause", noting that aircraft had flown for a long time with engine throttle settings out of the manual's limits, and that maintenance staff had not followed the required troubleshooting. Russian inspectors found more maintenance problems after the crash.

Two more aircraft were 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 in the next two years, both without deaths. In 2009 a 737-500 was damaged by hail on approach to Simferopol and never flew again; we weigh that lightly, because weather caused it. On 14 December 2010 a Nordavia An-24 with 39 people on board overran the runwayRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary at Rogachevo air base on Novaya Zemlya and its right main gear collapsed.

After that the record goes quiet for more than a decade. The next event with damage was in August 2024, when a 737-800 struck its tail on landing at Sochi in good weather. Rosaviatsia's preliminary findings pointed to piloting errors, and Smartavia fired the captain, who it said had a previous disciplinary record. In April 2026 a court convicted him of breaking flight safety rules: investigators put the damage at 622 million roubles, and he was given two years of restricted freedom and banned from flying for three years.

Sanctions and a fleet that stopped growing

Smartavia's own fleet page lists 13 jets: two Boeing 737-700s, nine 737-800s and two Airbus A320neos. The airline took its first A320neo in 2021 and planned to switch from Boeing to Airbus, but sanctions in 2022 ended that, and Kommersant counted only two neos at Smartavia in November 2024.

US rules have required a licence for aircraft parts going to Russia since February 2022, reviewed under a policy of denial. A May 2023 order by the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) shows what that looks like in practice. It describes two Florida-based brokers quoting Smartavia for Goodrich brake assemblies in 2022 and invoicing five units for $515,000, and it names Smartavia in a temporary denial order. We found no renewal of that order.

Getting parts through brokers is not the same as fitting bad parts, and no investigation has linked a Smartavia event to them. But no Western authority has checked how these aircraft are now maintained, which is why we score the fleet 45 instead of the 70s a mixed 737 and A320neo fleet would normally earn.

Oversight and recent events

The European Commission put Smartavia (AOC 466) on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary in April 2022 with 20 other Russian airlines, because Rosaviatsia had let them fly foreign-owned aircraft without valid certificates of airworthiness. It was still listed on 9 June 2026. ICAO's Significant Safety Concern on Russia over the same issue, posted in June 2022, was still in dispute in 2025. Smartavia is an IATA member, which requires 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, though no audit since 2022 can be confirmed. We score oversight 20, the same as Rossiya and Ural Airlines, which are not on the IOSA registry.

The most serious recent event came on 17 June 2026. Flight 5N164 from Sochi to Arkhangelsk, a 737-800 with 125 passengers and five crew, declared an emergency over the Black Sea about half an hour after take-off. Passengers reported a loud bang, Rosaviatsia said the aircraft had a technical fault, and it circled to burn fuel before landing safely back in Sochi. Russia's Investigative Committee opened a check and ordered a technical examination. Earlier, on 24 October 2023, a 737 from St Petersburg ran off the runway after landing at Perm in the early morning with snow on the runway. The 186 passengers and six crew were unhurt, the airport closed for several hours, and weather was named as the preliminary cause. AeroInside lists only minor events besides these, and like other Russian airlines Smartavia's record after 2021 is hard to see from outside.

Flying Smartavia

• Expect northern weather. Arkhangelsk and many of Smartavia's northern destinations have long, dark winters, and de-icing and snow clearing add delays.
• Allow for airport closures in the south and west. EASA's bulletin for Russian airspace west of 60° East, valid until January 2027, warns that air-defence activity against drones can close major airports. Sochi, a key Smartavia destination, suspended flights for much of the day before the June 2026 flight left.
• Do not count on a spare aircraft. With 13 jets, one technical problem can cancel a rotation. On the June 2026 flight, passengers waited about two hours for the reserve aircraft.

How we scored it

The accident record (80) sits at the floor of our band for airlines with no fatal accident in 15 years: the 2008 Perm crash, with findings against the airline's management, and write-offsHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary in 2009 and 2010 are older than that, and a tail strikeTail strikeWhen the tail of an aircraft touches the runway during take-off or landing, usually because the nose was raised too far or too early.More in the glossary followed in 2024. Oversight (20) reflects the EU ban, ICAO's open concern and 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 confirmed since 2022. The fleet (45) reflects a small fleet without factory support, and incidents (48) the 2023 Perm excursion and the 2026 Black Sea emergency on a record that is thin after 2021. For another Russian airline with a fatal accident in our window, see Red Wings.