The Federal Tax Service for St. Petersburg has filed a motion with the Arbitration Court seeking to terminate the bankruptcy liquidation procedure of Transaero Airlines JSC. The court is expected to rule on the matter on January 20, 2026. The information was reported by RAPSI, citing a ruling issued by the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
Transaero was once Russia’s largest privately owned airline. Its bankruptcy in the autumn of 2015 became one of the most high-profile events in the country’s aviation sector and had a significant impact on the domestic air transport market. As of November 1, 2015, the airline operated a fleet of 106 aircraft, including 101 Boeing jets of various types—among them 20 long-haul Boeing 747s—and five Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft. Ten Boeing aircraft were owned outright, while approximately 30 aircraft were operated under operating and finance lease agreements. By December 2015, most of the leased aircraft had been returned to lessors.
The airline operated primarily from Moscow and St. Petersburg, serving more than 150 domestic and international routes. In its final years, Transaero reported revenue growth. In 2013, revenue reached RUB 105.9 billion, while passenger traffic amounted to nearly 47 billion revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs). However, by 2015 the carrier was on the brink of collapse. Its liabilities reached approximately RUB 250 billion and, according to court estimates, exceeded the value of its assets by a factor of 144. In October 2015, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) revoked the airline’s Air Operator Certificate, forcing Transaero to cease flight operations.
The primary cause of the bankruptcy was the sharp depreciation of the Russian ruble in 2014, which dramatically increased the airline’s U.S. dollar-denominated debt. As a result, Transaero effectively lost its ability to service its obligations and settle accounts with creditors. In addition, the carrier’s fleet structure was heavily skewed toward widebody aircraft, many of which operated with low load factors. Aggressive fare discounting further undermined financial stability.
During the bankruptcy proceedings, the court-appointed insolvency administrator attempted to hold former executives personally liable for the airline’s debts under subsidiary liability provisions, arguing that their actions contributed to the insolvency. The court dismissed the claim, citing the expiration of the statutory limitation period. If the court approves the motion to terminate the liquidation procedure, Transaero Airlines JSC will be removed from Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities, formally ending the company’s legal existence.
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