Yamal Airlines

Is Yamal Airlines safe?

Yamal Airlines has had no fatal accident on its own certificate in the last 20 years, and its only written-off aircraft in that time was an old Tu-134 that caught fire on take-off in 2011 without anyone getting hurt. That record is the main reason for its score of 55. The rest pulls it down: the airline is 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, it 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 we could confirm, and its Superjets, Airbuses and CRJs have had no factory support since 2022.

Our confidence is low. Yamal publishes little about its fleet or safety, its website blocked our requests, and Russian incident reports have largely stopped reaching outside databases since 2021.

The 2011 Tu-134 fire

On 14 October 2011 a Tu-134A-3 built in 1979 was taking off from Novy Urengoy for Salekhard with 74 people on board when its left engine caught fire. The crew continued the take-off, circled and landed back at Novy Urengoy. No one was hurt. The aircraft never flew again and ended up as a training object for the airport's fire crews. We found no published cause, so it counts as a minor 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 in the 20-year window.

A helicopter company with the same name

Search for Yamal and air accidents, and two helicopter crashes come up. On 19 December 2010 a Mi-8T carrying 15 geophysical survey workers struck the ground 380 metres short of a landing pad near the Obskaya–Bovanenkovo railway, and the captain was killed. MAK found that the crew flew into unforecast ground fog and did not go around when they lost sight of the pad. On 21 February 2026 another Mi-8T was damaged near Panaevsk, injuring one crew member; MAK's investigation is open.

In both cases MAK names the operator as OOO Aviakompaniya Yamal, a helicopter company that is a separate legal entity from Yamal Airlines (AO ATK Yamal). The 2010 final report shows it flew under its own operator certificate, No. 526; Yamal Airlines flies under certificate 142. As with Utair's helicopter division, we describe these events but do not count them on this page.

Incidents that matter

The AeroInside log for Yamal runs to May 2021 and is mostly technical: engine shutdowns on CRJs, flap problems, bird strikes. Two recent events stand out:

• Moscow, January 2021. An A320 climbing out of Domodedovo for Salekhard lost airspeed readings on both pilots' displays and the autopilot dropped out. The crew flew on GPS ground speed, abandoned an approach back to Domodedovo in heavy snow, and landed at Saint Petersburg about 3.5 hours after take-off. Rosaviatsia traced the fault to corrosion on the plugs of two air data modules and recommended regular tests of those units. Corrosion that cuts both sources at once is a maintenance finding, which is why this event weighs more than a typical technical fault.
• Novy Urengoy, May 2021. A Superjet from Tyumen landed during runway and apron works, and an inspection found damage to the fan blades of its left engine. The runway surface was also found damaged.

In November 2019 a Superjet lost an engine after a bird strike at Tyumen and landed safely. Since 2021 only Russian news reports fill the gap, and the events they describe are minor. In July 2024 Pulkovo airport staff reported a fire in an engine of a newly arrived Superjet and fire crews covered it in foam; Yamal said there had been no fire. On 14 September 2026 a Superjet bound for Salekhard rejected its take-off from Domodedovo at about 225 km/h after a fire warning for the auxiliary power unit, which Yamal called false. On 22 October 2026 a Superjet hit two flocks of birds after landing at Omsk, and the transport regulator warned the airport, not the airline. We still treat the record since 2021 as incomplete.

Oversight and the fleet

The European Commission listed Yamal Airlines (AOC 142) in April 2022 with 20 other Russian airlines, because Rosaviatsia let them fly foreign-owned aircraft without valid certificates of airworthiness, and kept it on the list on 9 June 2026. ICAO posted a Significant Safety Concern against Russia in June 2022 over the same "dual registration" of aircraft. Yamal is not on IATA's member list, so there is 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 to point to. Under our yardstick, an EU-listed Russian airline without IOSA scores 20, the same as Yakutia Airlines.

The fleet mixes Sukhoi Superjet 100s, Airbus A320-family jets and older Bombardier CRJ200s. We could not find a current count. The Superjets have been hard work for Yamal: in 2019 its chief executive turned down ten more because the cost of keeping them airworthy left no room to grow the fleet. Since 2022 the French half of the Superjet's engine maker, Airbus and Bombardier have all stopped support. In October 2025 the airline began a rebrand, starting with a Superjet in a new livery, and plans to repaint the whole fleet by the end of 2027.

Before you fly Yamal

• Allow for Arctic weather. Salekhard sits on the Arctic Circle and Novy Urengoy just south of it. Winter delays for snow and de-icing are normal, so leave slack before onward flights from Moscow or Tyumen.
• Expect cancellations at short notice. With an older, sanctioned fleet, one fault can take an aircraft out for weeks. Keep the airline's contact details and check the flight status on the day.
• Know which aircraft you are on. The Superjet and the A320 are fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary types; the CRJ200 is an older, smaller regional jet. The booking page usually shows the type.

How we scored it

The accident record (82) is the strongest factor: no deaths on Yamal's certificate in 20 years and one minor 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. 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. The fleet (40) is cut off from all three of its makers, incidents (50) include the 2021 double loss of airspeed data, and the Arctic bases keep the environment at 42. For a larger West Siberian airline with a harder record, see Utair.