Utair

Is Utair safe?

Utair's record is weaker than Aeroflot's or Ural's. Two of its flights have crashed with deaths in the last 20 years, the last in 2012, and four more aircraft have been 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 since 2018 without loss of life. Since 2022 it has also 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 under a US export denial order, and it still flies older Boeing 737-500s that no longer get factory support. We score it 44. That is a lower score based on dated accident findings, not a prediction about any flight.

The two fatal crashes

Samara, 17 March 2007. Flight 471, a Tupolev Tu-134 from Surgut to Belgorod, approached Samara in fog far below the airport's minimums. Weather staff did not pass on the worsening visibility, and at decision height the crew had no reliable view of the approach lights but did not go around in time. The aircraft hit the ground short of the runway, and 6 of the 57 on board died. The investigation also faulted the controller's use of the radar and poor coordination in the cockpit.

Tyumen, 2 April 2012. Flight 120, an ATR 72 bound for Surgut, had stood outside for eight hours in snow at about freezing point. It was not de-iced, though the crew had seen ice on the wing while taxiing. Just after the flaps were retracted it stalled, rolled and crashed in a field 1.6 km beyond the runway, killing 33 of the 43 on board. MAK found the systemic cause inside the airline: weak ground handling and training at its maintenance arm, UTair-Technik, which Utair's own departments had not supervised, and a safety management system that "contains general issues only."

Written off since 2018

Our rubric looks at the last 20 years, and Utair's later record matters as much as the crashes:

• Sochi, 1 September 2018. A Boeing 737-800 on flight 579 from Moscow landed long and fast in a thunderstorm after the crew ignored repeated windshear warnings on two approaches. It 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 about 75 knots, broke through the fence and stopped in a river bed, where it caught fire. All 172 people survived and 18 passengers were injured.
• Moscow Vnukovo, 12 January 2019. A 737-500's nose gear collapsed while the aircraft was being towed on a maintenance ramp with no one on board. It 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, but as a ground-handling event rather than a flight we weigh it lightly. It was the same aircraft that had gone into an upset during a go-around at Vnukovo in October 2017.
• Usinsk, 9 February 2020. On flight 595, a 737-500 with 100 people on board touched down 32 metres short of the runway, hit a 1.1-metre wall of snow left on the paved surface and lost its main gear. Everyone got out.
• Utrenny, 14 June 2024. An Antonov An-26 carrying 36 shift workers to the Arctic LNG 2 project hit a snow barrier 955 metres short of the runway and broke in two. Three people were seriously hurt. MAK found the captain had continued an approach in weather below the airport's minimum and descended below the minimum altitude without seeing the runway. In August 2025 a court in the Yamal-Nenets region convicted him of breaking flight safety rules and fined him 100,000 roubles.

At Usinsk the snow wall stood on the paved runway surface, which points to the airport as well as the crew. Sochi and Utrenny point to crew decisions, and Vnukovo to ground handling.

Serious incidents

AeroInside logged about 100 Utair events from 2012 to early 2022, and several are the kind that count against an airline: ATR 72s ran off the runway at Voronezh in April 2016 and Tomsk in August 2017; a 737-500 went into an upset during a go-around at Vnukovo in October 2017 and recovered after losing about 1,000 feet, according to unofficial flight-data reports that no Russian authority confirmed; and on 8 March 2022 a 737-500 veered off a snowy runway at Vnukovo at about 30 km/h during take-off and stopped in a snowbank. Since then only a few events have reached outside sources, which says more about how little Russian data now leaves the country than about Utair's recent flying:

• Grozny, 7 September 2024. Flight UT742, a 737-800 from Antalya, descended towards a parallel runway that was closed for construction. Video shows it passing over an excavator before the crew climbed away and went around; it then landed safely on the right runway. No explanation was published.

• Sochi, 27 June 2025. A Utair 737 taxiing out for Tyumen struck the tail of a NordStar 737 that had just arrived from Norilsk; the Utair wingtip lodged in the NordStar jet's elevator. According to the transport prosecutor, the NordStar aircraft had stopped short of its parking mark and the crew had not told the controller. No one was hurt, and both aircraft were taken out of service.

We count the Sochi collision as an incident and weigh it lightly, because the prosecutor's account puts the main cause on the NordStar side. The Grozny approach to a closed runway weighs more, and it takes the incidents score to 38.

Sanctions, fleet and oversight

According to Vnukovo airport in February 2026, Utair flies 56 Boeing and ATR aircraft and carried almost 7 million passengers in 2025. Its jets include 737-500s, an older version of the 737 that has been out of production for many years, alongside newer 737-800s.

On 7 April 2022 the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) put Utair under a temporary denial order after it flew US-origin aircraft into Russia from Jeddah, Yerevan and Tashkent without a licence. BIS has renewed it six times, most recently on 11 September 2026, each time finding further flights to places such as Baku, Dushanbe, Istanbul, Dubai and Baghdad. The order bars US-origin servicing except work authorised for safety of flight, and US rules have required a licence, normally refused, for aircraft parts going to Russia since February 2022.

The European Commission put Utair (AOC 6) 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 because Rosaviatsia let Russian airlines fly foreign-owned aircraft without valid certificates of airworthiness. It was still listed on 9 June 2026. Utair is an IATA member, which normally requires an 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 safety audit, but it was not on IATA's IOSA registry when we searched it on 28 October 2026. We score oversight 20, the same as Ural Airlines and S7.

Before you fly Utair

• Expect winter operations. Much of Utair's network runs through Tyumen, Surgut, Khanty-Mansiysk and the Arctic north, where de-icing, snow clearance and low visibility are routine for half the year. If your flight is delayed for de-icing, that delay is the process working.
• Check the aircraft on regional routes. Many shorter routes are flown by ATR 72 turboprops rather than jets.
• Allow time in Moscow. EASA's bulletin for Russian airspace west of 60° East, valid until January 2027, warns that drone attacks can close major airports at short notice.

How we scored it

The accident record (60) carries two fatal crashes and four further hull lossesHull 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 20 years, most with findings against crew or ground handling. Only the 2012 Tyumen crash is within 15 years, so the score sits at the floor of the 60–79 band. Oversight (20) reflects the EU ban, ICAO's open concern 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 audit. The fleet (40) includes older 737-500s with no Boeing support, and the incident record (38) shows repeated runway excursionsRunway 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 before data dried up in 2022, an approach to a closed runway at Grozny in 2024 and a ground collision at Sochi in 2025 that weighs lightly. For a Russian airline with a cleaner 20-year record, see Rossiya.