UTair UTair Airline

UTair is the core of the UTair Group, which includes companies operating aircraft (aircraft and helicopters), as well as companies for the repair and maintenance of aircraft, personnel training, flight service and sale of air transportation.

For 2019, Utair is the sixth largest passenger carrier in Russia.

UTair has a modern fleet of more than 60 aircraft. The main hub of the airline is Moscow Vnukovo International Airport, through which more than 160 flights of the air carrier pass every day. The headquarters is located in Surgut. UTair has been on the IOSA operator register since 2008. A controlling stake in UTair is held by the non-state pension fund Surgutneftegas.

Performance indicators

2023

Revenue growth by 17.7% to 68.34 billion rubles

UTair Airlines completed 2023 with revenue growth of 17.7% compared to 2022 - up to 68.34 billion rubles. The carrier's net profit decreased by 16%, to 3.43 billion rubles. Such data in accordance with Russian accounting standards were published in April 2024.

According to Interfax, citing UTair materials, in 2023 the company's cost of sales reached 62 billion rubles, an increase of a third compared to the previous year. Gross profit decreased by 45%, amounting to 6.3 billion rubles.

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Other revenues of the company in 2023 increased to 2.3 billion rubles from 935 million rubles in 2022, other expenses decreased from 8 billion to 3.7 billion rubles.

As of December 31, 2023, the volume of long-term obligations of UTair was measured at 54.8 billion rubles (by the end of 2022, the indicator was measured at 36 billion rubles), including borrowed funds - at 20.2 billion rubles (against 22.8 billion rubles in 2022).

By the end of 2023, the company's short-term liabilities amounted to 27.6 billion rubles (against 44.2 billion rubles in 2022), the borrowed funds related to them - 7.3 billion rubles (against 5.5 billion rubles).

UTair is one of the largest Russian airlines. By the end of 2023, it had 59 Boeing-737, -767 and ATR 72-500 aircraft and several subsidiaries:

• UTair - Passenger Airlines, its planes fly in 120 directions;
• UTair - Helicopter Services is the largest helicopter operator in Russia;
• JSC "UTair" - operator of rotational air transportation for enterprises of the oil and gas complex;
• "UTair-Engineering" - engaged in helicopter maintenance;
• TS Tekhnik is one of the largest aircraft maintenance enterprises in Russia.
• UTair Information Technologies LLC is a developer of IT solutions for the UTair group
• "Personnel Training Center" is an aviation training center of Russia that provides training and retraining of flight, engineering and technical personnel and ground service personnel.^[1]

Passenger traffic growth by 9.3% to 6.05 million people

Passenger traffic on UTair flights in 2023 increased by 9.3% compared to 2022 - to 6,058,285 people. The group announced this on January 18, 2024.

It also follows from the carrier's materials that in 2023 the company transported a total of 6,687,589 passengers, taking into account helicopter flights (629,304 people; + 14.3% by 2022). Helicopters carried 85,001 tons of cargo in 2023, up 13.9% from a year earlier. The production flight on such aircraft amounted to 122,240 hours.

Passenger traffic on UTair flights in 2023 increased by 9.3%

In 2023, the airline was at risk of stopping up to 30% of its helicopter fleet. The risk was caused by problems with the supply of units and components, said UTair CEO Andrei Martirosov

On aircraft, the number of passengers on international flights in 2023 increased by 27.7%. On domestic routes, passenger traffic increased by 4.9%. 14,630 tons of cargo were transported (+ 16.1% by 2022). Production flight on aircraft in 2023 turned out to be equal to 158,806 hours (+ 8.1%).

By the end of 2023, the UTair group includes the passenger airline of the same name, helicopter carriers (the largest is UTair - helicopter services), aircraft repair and maintenance companies, Surgut and Ust-Kut airports. The Group is controlled by JSC AK-invest.

According to the reporting, the company's assets by the end of September 2023 amounted to 75.66 billion rubles. Non-current assets of UTair were at the level of 38.59 billion rubles, current assets - 37.07 billion rubles. Capital and reserves were measured at 2.3 billion rubles.

After the publication of operating results for 2023, UTair shares on January 18, 2024, the ode rose by 4.3% compared to the previous trading session - to 16.26 rubles.^[2]

2022: Revenue growth by 9% to 53.2 billion rubles

UTair's revenue in 2022 amounted to 53.2 billion rubles (according to RAS), which is 9% more than a year earlier. The carrier's net profit during this time rose by 6% and reached 4.1 billion rubles. Such data were released in April 2023.

According to Interfax, citing UTair's reports, in 2022 the company's cost of sales increased by 7% compared to a year ago - to 52 billion rubles. Other revenues had a significant impact on UTair's financial result: they amounted to 22.9 billion rubles, which is 3.2 times more than a year ago. Other airline revenues usually include state subsidies, excise taxes on jet fuel. UTair's other expenses amounted to 19.9 billion rubles, which is about 7 times more than a year earlier.

The revenue of the airline "UTair" in 2022 amounted to 53.2 billion rubles

The amount of the company's long-term liabilities at the end of the reporting period was estimated at 36 billion rubles (at the end of 2021 - 23.1 billion rubles), including borrowed funds - at 22.8 billion rubles (against 18.5 billion rubles). Short-term liabilities were at the level of 44.2 billion rubles (against 44 billion rubles), related borrowed funds - 5.5 billion rubles (against 10.4 billion rubles).

In 2022, Utair opened an online sale of services at airports. Among them:

• dedicated corridor - quick inspection through a separate channel.
• meeting and support - accelerated passage of procedures with a personal assistant.
• business hall - a comfortable space with drinks, snacks and wi-fi.
• VIP service - comprehensive service with a personal assistant in the VIP room and a personal transfer from the terminal to the plane and back.

By the end of 2022, the UTair group included the airline of the same name, which is the fourth largest in Russia, helicopter carriers, aircraft maintenance companies, Surgut and Ust-Kut airports. The largest shareholder is AK-invest^[3]

2021: Revenue growth by 37% to RUB 76.75 billion

UTair's revenue for 2021 rose 37% compared to 2020 and reached 76.75 billion rubles. Such data in accordance with international financial reporting standards were released in May 2022.

The net profit of the air carrier at the end of 2021 turned out to be equal to 26.83 billion rubles, which is 8.6 times higher than the profit of a year ago.

UTair's revenue for the year rose by 37%

The passenger traffic of UTair Airlines in 2021 amounted to 7.1 million people (+ 49.7% by 2020), loading - 82.3% (+ 3.8 percentage points). The company carried 192.9 thousand passengers (+ 38%).

UTair - Helicopter Services JSC together with other helicopter operators of the group transported 529.3 thousand passengers (+ 7% by 2020), production flight time amounted to 126.5 thousand hours (+ 7%).

UTair-Engineering JSC overhauled 47 helicopters (+ 24.3% compared to 2020) and carried out maintenance in the amount of 1412.6 thousand normal hours (+ 7.1%). TS Technik carried out aircraft maintenance in the amount of 350.5 thousand normal hours (+ 9.3%). Surgut International Airport in 2021 served 1.84 million people: more than 1 million passengers (55.9%) transported UTair.

Summing up the results of 2021, the UTair press service noted that the group completed work with creditors on comprehensive restructuring of debt obligations, and also converted part of the debt into capital, for which an additional issue of ordinary shares was carried out.

{{quote 'Comprehensive restructuring made it possible to reduce the group's debt burden and improve performance. In the current, not simple conditions for the entire transport industry of Russia, the group will continue its course towards optimizing costs, increasing load and sales, "said Igor Petrov, financial director of UTair, whose words are quoted by the company's press service. }}^[4]

2018: Loss of 22 billion rubles

In 2018, Utair transported 7.7 million passengers and received a loss of 22 billion rubles. The situation is aggravated by large debt obligations: Utair has two seven-year loans - for 15.4 billion rubles. from the syndicate of 11 banks and for 17.4 billion rubles. from Sberbank, and a third syndicated loan for 23.7 billion rubles, for a period of 12 years. It turns out that the total debt hole of the airline is approaching 56.5 billion rubles.

The company defaulted on loans in 2018. So, in December, the company was unable to pay about 3 billion rubles to the syndicate of banks and Sberbank. Aviators explained their insolvency by rising prices for jet fuel and a shortfall of 1.5 billion rubles. arrived due to a shortage of pilots.

• In the first 10 months of 2016, 5,608,111 passengers used the airline's services, which is 17.3% higher than the same period last year. During the high season, the airline flies to more than 150 destinations, 65 of which ‒ unique.
• In 2015, UTair aircraft carried 5,530,348 passengers.
• In January - November 2014, the company transported 8 million passengers. For comparison, Aeroflot transported 21.7 million passengers, Siberia - 7.4 million.

History

2024: UTair sells helicopter operator from Peru

The airline UTair"" sold a helicopter operator from Peru Helicopters del Sur S.A. (Helisur). The Russian carrier announced this in its IFRS reporting, which was announced in early May 2024. More. here

2023: Building an IT Company

Air carrier UTair has created an IT company called UTair - Information Technologies. The corresponding entry appeared in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (Unified State Register of Legal Entities) on March 14, 2023. Read more here.

2022

Purchase of aircraft and most of the helicopter fleet from SberLeasing

Utair, after the introduction of Western sanctions, bought aircraft and most of the helicopter fleet from SberLeasing. Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank, told reporters about this on August 23, 2022.

According to him, Utair did not turn to Sberbank for a revision of lending conditions. The contract is executed, the repayment schedule is observed.

Utair bought planes and most of the helicopter fleet from SberLeasing

Speaking in general about the Russian aviation industry, the banker noted that the condition of the airlines is assessed as satisfactory.

In the summer season, the occupancy rate of domestic flights tends to 100%. With competent cost management, we believe that airlines will be able to service their debts, - said Popov.

According to RBC, UTair was engaged in the purchase of aircraft even before the introduction of Western sanctions. But, indeed, after February 24, 2022, several liners were bought from SberLeasing, the newspaper writes. In total, 35 Boeing were bought from different leasing companies.

In mid-March 2022, the airline reported that it had transferred 50 aircraft to the Russian register. Due to the special operation Russia , he To Ukraine European Union banned European companies from supplying, leasing, maintenance and insurance of aircraft in the Russian Federation.

According to the interlocutor, nine Boeing 737-800 aircraft taken into operational leasing are still in storage at Vnukovo airport (one of the Utair based airports), the airline does not fly on them.

SberLeasing and Utair have been cooperating since 2010, when an agreement was concluded on the commissioning of six Boeing 737-400s by the air carrier with the support of a division of Sberbank. Utair for a period of five years received two Boeing 737-800 and five Boeing 737-500 with a total value of $100 million. In early 2012, the companies entered into an agreement on the development of cooperation in the field of project financing and leasing.^[5]

Appeal to the authorities with a proposal to extend the engine life for Mi-8 and Mi-172 helicopters

The largest helicopter operator in Russia, Utair, turned to the authorities in August 2022 with a proposal to extend the ending engine life for the popular Mi-8 and Mi-172 helicopters.

Most of these motors have already practically developed the time prescribed by the manufacturer, after which it will be impossible to operate the devices. Until 2014, the engine was assembled from Ukrainian components. After the enterprise switched to assembly from Russian parts. But the possibilities for release are extremely limited, it is not possible to replace the entire pool.

2020: Data breach of 530,000 customers

At the end of August 2020, the database of 530 thousand UTair clients was in the public domain. The company itself confirmed the leak, but assured that the hackers who launched a large-scale attack on the airline's servers could not gain access to passenger bank cards and accounts in the loyalty program.

According  to the Telegram channel "Information Leaks," which is conducted by DLBI, a vulnerability company, such UTair client data as last name, first name, patronymic in Russian and Latin alphabet, series and document number, address, date of birth, gender, phone number, email address and data from the loyalty program have appeared in the public domain on the English-language forum. In 2019, the same base was sold on one of the shadow forums for 30 thousand rubles when buying whole or at a price of 1-2 rubles. for recording when selling "small retail," the Telegram channel claims.

The base with phones and full name 530 thousand UTair clients was in the public domain

A year and a half ago, Utair was subjected to large-scale hacker attacks. As a result, one of the servers was damaged, and hackers were able to take possession of some of the disparate user data. The airline's security service fixed this problem, took additional measures to protect user data and minimize the risks of spam and phishing, the airline's press service told TASS.

They also noted that Utair stores bank card data separately for security and uses two-factor authentication, so nothing threatens passengers' accounts in the airline's loyalty program.^[6]

Ashot Hovhannisyan, founder of the DLBI leak intelligence service, said in a conversation with RIA Novosti that the MongoDB server owned by Utair Digital (Utair IT division) was in the public domain from January 21 to March 20, 2019 and was closed after warnings from DLBI experts.^[7]

2019

MTS-Bank plans to initiate bankruptcy of Utair

In September 2019, one of the 11 members of the MTS-Bank airline creditors syndicate announced its intention to initiate the bankruptcy procedure Utair, follows from the Fedresurs portal. In July, another creditor, Rus Bank, made a similar statement.

As a source close to the airline told RBC, the intention to file a claim is due to non-payment of interest on the loan. "But this is a very small amount that the company can repay at any time, so there is no risk of bankruptcy," the source said.

Bank "Rus" planned to file a lawsuit also for non-payment of interest.

The airline has two seven-year loans - for 15.4 billion rubles. from a syndicate of 11 banks (the largest - Trust, Russia and Sberbank) and for 17.4 billion rubles. from Sberbank. A syndicate of 11 banks also issued a 12-year loan to the carrier for 23.7 billion rubles.

On a seven-year loan for 15.4 billion rubles. in December 2018, and then in June 2019, the carrier defaulted. The airline also defaulted on a separate loan from Sberbank. All the while, Utair has been negotiating debt restructuring.

The government of Bashkiria subsidizes Utair

Until the end of 2019, funds in the amount of 100 million rubles were reserved in the republican budget of Bashkiria for subsidizing Utair. Nevertheless, the State Transport Committee of Bashkiria is confident that this amount will not be enough. Thus, Interfax, with reference to the head of the committee, Timur Mukhametyanov, writes that the issue of allocating another 80 million rubles is being discussed.

As of August 2019, the financial condition of the airline is assessed ambiguously. So in February, MTS-Bank applied to the court with a demand to pay interest on the loan, the amount of claims is 8.69 million rubles. In July, NIKO-Bank joined him with demands for a much more serious amount - 89.25 million rubles, and at the end of the month it became known about the filing of a lawsuit by Rossiya Bank for 155.35 million rubles. In August, the Orenburg mortgage bank Rus filed for bankruptcy of the company. The amount of the bank's claims amounted to more than 4.9 million rubles.

UTair helicopter damaged during terrorist attack in Mali

In July 2019, a helicopter of a Russian airline was damaged during an attack by terrorists in Mali, an informed source told Interfax.

"The terrorists attacked the Gao airport, where the Mi-8 of Utair, chartered under a contract with the UN, was located on the site. The helicopter was damaged, they will be eliminated by the airline, "the source said. The crew managed to hide in a safe place and was not injured.

Sberbank opposed the terms of restructuring

In July 2019, Utair faced unexpected difficulties in restructuring its debts. The total debt of the airline to banks reaches 60 billion rubles.

The largest of the airline's creditors, Sberbank, announced dissatisfaction with the restructuring plan. Previously, the state bank supported Utair's proposals and was the only one of the syndicate of creditors who agreed to postpone interest payments on loans. On the eve of the summer, the head of Sberbank, German Gref, promised to support the financial recovery of the company, but later the position of the state bank changed dramatically.

Probably, the dynamics of the financial situation among the air carrier, and in the aviation industry as a whole, forces the lender to demand large guarantees of the return of its funds. At this time, the airline has two seven-year loans - for 15.4 billion rubles. from a syndicate of 11 banks and for 17.4 billion rubles. from Sberbank. As well as a 12-year loan for 23.7 billion rubles from the syndicate, which includes Sberbank. The airline proposed to prolong payments on a significant part of debts for 35 years at a symbolic 0.01%. For the rest, extend the period of payments to 10-15 years at the market rate (about 8% per annum). But the payment of interest on these loans Utair also wanted to divide into two parts: 4% is paid regularly, and another 4% "save as interest payable in the future."

Perhaps this repayment option is better than Utair's earlier offer to simply write off 31.4 billion rubles. debt. But it is quite obvious that this option of prolongation did not suit the creditors. It can be assumed that now bankers will tighten the rhetoric on the parting of Utair with their liquid assets, for example, will require the sale of a 50% stake in the aviation service company UTG.

On the verge of a new default

As of June 2019, the fifth largest air carrier in Russia is preparing for a new default: the administration of the air carrier has notified creditor banks that it will not be able to pay the full amount of interest on its debts.

To service interest on debts, Utair may sell a 50% stake in the aviation service company UTG in the airline's Surgut airport. The company should start repaying the body of loans in 2020. For its part, creditors are not determined to wait, they force Utair to also think about selling the helicopter company. It is already obvious to everyone that aviators do not plan to repay most of the debts.

In March 2019, the company asked to completely write off the syndicated loan for 23.7 billion rubles. and 50% of the loan for 15.4 billion rubles. The airline also asked the structures of Surgutneftegaz to completely write off a 12-year loan for 3.6 billion rubles. and half of a seven-year loan for 2.4 billion rubles.

Probably only Sberbank has a real chance to fully return its funds. The only loan on which the airline did not ask for write-offs is Sberbank's loan. The reasons for this are obvious: a guarantee of the Surgutneftegaz structure was issued for it, covering both 100% of the loan body and unpaid interest.

2014: Bond default

In December 2014, UTair defaulted on bonds. The entire debt of the company, taking into account leasing payments, is 170 billion rubles. UTair is in talks with creditors to restructure the debt. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich at the end of December 2014 promised to support UTair.

2011:140 aircraft and over 300 flights

For 2011, UTair is one of the three leading passenger air carriers in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Baltic countries and the CIS; has the most developed route network. More than 140 aircraft are involved in the implementation of the production program, which operate more than 300 passenger flights per day. According to UTair's business plan, in 2011 the airline intended to carry more than 7 million passengers.

Notes