TU154Ms into UK

[peterperfect]

Hi,
Anyone out there know where I can locate statistics of various aircraft types by UK airport ? For example how often Tu154Ms operate into UK ?
Many thanks, pp.

[AlexisDetroit]

Or maybe it was just in Russia. I flew several times in the 1990s on Vietnam Airlines Tu-154s. One 154 had a quaint touch with wooden cabinets for storage near seats.
The sturdy-look of the 154 made me think of Sturmovik Il-2 "flying tank" of WWII fame. There was a VN Airlines Tupelov, a 154, I think, crash near Phnom Penh in 1997. I think VN Airlines pulled the Tupelovs from their inventory soon after.

[kotofeus]

Russian CAA have stopped all TU154B flights after recent Kogalym Avia TU154B accident. Not sure what's the status now.

TU154M are permitted to EU/UK. I remember Atlant Soyuz flew to Luton in December with their TU154M VIP with a Russian football team (Spartak I think).

The only issue they had was a late night departure (may be something else that I'm not aware of)

Pulkovo / Rossiya Airlines used to fly to LGW with their TU154M before they got B737s and A320s. Even after they got B737 they were using TU154M sometimes.

[GayFriendly]

Pretty sure that Krygystan Airlines used these into BHX for a while in the 90's (?) on weekly scheduled flights from Bishkek, they made a right racket on take off!! Ah the memories!! No idea if any airline uses them regularly now into the UK would love to see one again.

[ryansf]

Balkan used to fly them into DSA until about two or three years ago. They have now been replaced by A320s. Not sure if they still fly 154s to the UK or indeed if they have even retired the fleet.

[Rob Courtney]

Im pretty sure Balken used to fly the 154 into Manchester upto a few years ago, I remember my parents flying with them over 20 years ago and comparing it to a truck. They also had the good fortune to fly the 134s of Aviogenex

[TSR2]

They also had the good fortune to fly the 134s of Aviogenex

Yes indeed, good fortune to still be around to tell the tale. Aviogenex wrote-off two of their first four TU134's if my memory is correct.

[N707ZS]

A long time ago, you could go to Heathrow and see 154s from.
LOT, Malev, Tarom, Hungary, Aeroflot, Balkan. At the most now you might see the Slovak government one.

[Rob Courtney]

Yes the parents are still around (well one of them is) to recount thier TU134 stories. At Manchester we used to get 154s from Aeroflot as well, I remember they always had a member of the crew on the tarmac all the time the aircraft was on the ground.

We used to get 134s from LOT as well as the odd IL18 and then there was the Sat morning Tarom IL62 flight as well

[EISNN]

Not the UK but ........Many Many TU154's operated into and out of SNN for years during the 80's and 90's from Moscow, Minsk, Kiev and St Petersburg. They fed into Soviet and early post Soviet Aeroflot's hub operation there which continued onto Miami, Washington, Chicago, Cancun, Mexico city and Havana. After Soviet Aeroflot was broken up the operation continued by the new airlines who were created such as Belavia, Air Ukraine etc

[The SSK]

I may be mistaken, but when RVSM (reduced vertical separation minima) was introduced into Europe (2002), Tu154s were not certified, as not having the required accuracy of altitude measuring equipment.

Consequently they would have to fly below RVSM airspace. i.e. no higher than fl270. I guess this would tend to make already pretty dire operating economics even worse.

[MAN Guy]

Ah remember those days in the 1990's well at MAN......saturday charters with TU154's from Balkan and Tarom and the sunday (and occasionally!) friday scheduled service from Aeroflot. I think the last ones we've seen at MAN were a couple of years ago on the weekly Belavia summer schedule from Minsk..... but last few summers have seen just the 737 operating this flight.

[peterperfect]

Many thanks for all your replies on this one. So I'll take it that its not likely to see one these days unless Putin or similar VIP comes in on a special permit ?

I heard elsewhere that Belavia still flies regularly into LGW, but using B737s, I guess therefore they won't use the 154s if the 737 goes duff ?

pp

[The SSK]

Can confirm, having trawled throuth the OAG database (320k records!) there are no remaining scheduled Tu154 ops West of Russia/Ukraine/Istanbul.

The things you do on a quiet afternoon ...

[kotofeus]

Many thanks for all your replies on this one. So I'll take it that its not likely to see one these days unless Putin or similar VIP comes in on a special permit ?

Putin / Medvedev both fly IL-96-300 and in rare cases TU-204PU... and even rarely brand new Falcon 7X (they have two)

you may have a chance to see TU154 in the UK is another Atlant Soyuz charter with their TU154M VIP with some one of Russian football teams. Although, I heard that Atlant Soyuz has stopped all scheduled flights at the moment and apparently the company is going down, so I'm not sure if their VIP aircraft will be transferred to another AOC or not.

and by the way, TU154M does not need a "special permit" to fly to EU/UK. They just need to make sure there is a TU154 towbar at the airport, otherwise they will have to bring one with them.

[irishair2001]

Hi AlexisDetroit

I dont think Vietnam Airlines operated TU-154s,maybe it is their TU-134s that you flew on,however I stand to be corrected on this.:ok:

[ltua330]

Hi

A couple of years ago I did a day trip to MUC and Ural Airlines sent in a 154 instead of the booked A320,i was well chuffed until I read it off as the same one I had seen in BCN a few months earlier,still got a magic picture though.BCN is good during the summer for the odd 154,when I went I saw that Ural one,Tartasan,Belavia and 2 Rossyia,it was Sep 2008.I expect its nearly all western aircrat now.Antalya is also good for 154's.

Cheers

Martin

[DC10RealMan]

I turned up recently to fly from Moscow to Volgograd and return expecting an exotic Tupolev or Ilyushin and got a Boeing 737 both ways. BUGGER!!!!

[freegeek]

I flew on a tu-154 with Siberian Airlines in 2004 (Moscow - Minvody)

[trident3A]

Pretty sure Pulkovo used operate a 154 into Heathrow on Saturday mornings up until quite recently

[WHBM]

I was a regular on the Pulkovo/Rossiya flights from London to St Petersburg, and the last Tu154M I came back on was into Gatwick on Sunday 30 March 2008, when the aircraft I see was RA-85836, a modern example built in 1998. I always used to try and bend the trip to get on the 154, that Sunday flight was the last to use the aircraft - the Saturday operation through Heathrow changed to 737s a couple of years beforehand.

For those who never rode in them, the aircraft had a thoroughly contemporary and up to date feeling inside, while the in-flight catering knocked spots off the BA offering on the route, certainly for quantity.

The Pulkovo/Rossiya website was always very precise on which types operate which departures, but Rossiya have now given up their London services completely, and closed their sales office which used to be in Berkeley Street off Piccadilly.

The replacing 737s, which incidentally were much older than the Tu154s, were secondhand from Aer Lingus, who had fitted them with green seats, with quotations from Irish poets and writers woven all across the fabric in a black old-fashioned script. Rossiya retained these seats. It was difficult enough for me to read them - what the majority of the Russian travellers made of them, goodness knows.

[irishair2001]

A TU-154,was actually demonstrated to UK carter airlines ,Dan Air ,Brittannia and a few others at LUTON in the 70s,it was being marketed to them at the time as high capacity ,215 seats , less expensive alternative to 1-11s,Comets and 737s,needless to say none were sold in the UK.

[N707ZS]

I found out the other day they are still building 154s and completely stripping others and rebuilding at the re-work factory.

[WHBM]

A TU-154,was actually demonstrated to UK charter airlines .... needless to say none were sold in the UK.
In summer 1993 the Tu154s smaller brother, the Yak-42, managed to get an aircraft based at Manchester for the season. This was Air Ukraine UR-42544, there are several photographs of it at Manchester on the web. It operated bottom-priced charters to the Mediterranean. I believe it was actually on the AOC of a smaller UK charter operator (BAF ?) to allow this. It ran into a range of unreliability issues, deriving of course coming from support for spares and licenced engineers at the various points it operated into, and the delays got into the national press. It didn't come back the next year.

Even in Russia the Yak-42 has always been seen as the poor relation of the Tu154, the latter being well regarded by operations geared up to support it properly.

[ltua330]

Hi

There is a Aero Rent TU154 due into Basle on 16/2 doing a football charter,it stays for 2 days.Arr 16/2 1210 Dep 18/2 1410.(Credit Basle Spotters)Very nice scheme.I'm hoping 2 Russian teams get to the final as the final is in Dublin and I am off there for the day,18th May

Cheers

Martin

[Prince of Dzun]

peterperfect;

Air Koryo the national airline of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea ( North Korea ) still operate the TU 154 on regular schedule routes. Key into Google--Air Koryo TU 154-- and have yourself a feast.
I travelled on an Air Koryo IL62 not long ago between Beijing and Pyongyang as a tourist and the flight was superb. [ 10 out of 10 for everthing ] At the time of disembarking at Pyongyang ( steps and walk across the apron, no air bridges ) I recall a number of Air Koryo aircraft on adjacent bays and apart from some IL 62m s I think there was some Tu 154 Their colour scheme is very eye catching with the red and blue flag on the tail being the centre piece.

Prince of Dzun.

[WHBM]

but Rossiya have now given up their London services completely, and closed their sales office which used to be in Berkeley Street off Piccadilly.
No sooner have I written this, than Rossiya have decided to restart their London route from 6 March.

Twice a week Gatwick to St Petersburg, Wednesday and Sunday lunchtimes to start with, with A319s. Alas, no Tu154s so far.

Ðîññèÿ - Ðîññèéñêèå àâèàëèíèè :: Ñïåöèàëüíûå òàðèôû äëÿ ïîë¸òîâ â Ëîíäîí (http://www.rossiya-airlines.com/ru/news/index.php?id4=2380)

sorry, it's in Russian only on their website at te moment

[somersetjawa]

Would this be the UEFA Europa League Final you are referring to.Being non-football knowledgable you reckon it may be worth a trip? P.S wont shoot the messenger if two "local" teams make the final, Thanks.

[Ringwayman]

There was an Air Via Tu154 based at MAN around 1991/1992 with a pretty extensive operation after the Globe Mediterranean fiasco.

[Capetonian]

This won a prize in a Telegraph travel writing competition. Nice piece of descritpive writing.

By Tim Waters 12:09PM GMT 03 Dec 2010

I stood in the darkness looking up at it as the first snows of winter stung my ears. White, rippling skin pinned to its bones with countless rivets, wings swept back and downwards, impatient to fly. The red name on its nose said "Petr Panov".

"You'll die," the agent had said.

"Even I wouldn't do it and I know Tupolev's granddaughter," the translator had added.

Fed up with being carried through the sky in anonymous boxes, I had hunted out the last Tupolev 154 still working the Moscow to St Petersburg route. Fly UTair – fly Russian!

A woman in furs stood in front of me, her lapdog yapping at the wind. A man in leather swept the snow from his cropped hair with a single movement of his hand. Up and into the cabin we went. Grey vinyl sides, like elephant hide; emergency signs painted on Tupperware lights in messy, red letters.

I took my seat, staring at a tray table made of grey painted chipboard. The only intelligible phrase in the lengthy safety briefing was "long life, safe flying of this aircraft", uttered as if it were an incantation. I swear that the hostess was crossing her fingers as she spoke.

One engine began to spin, a metallic whine building. Then the second, then the third, each note rising discordantly until they all joined in a screaming, titanium harmonic, behind us and within us. Sitting at the end of the runway, the aircraft twitched as the brakes struggled to hold it back.

With an all-consuming roar, the Soloviev turbines hurled us forward and up, the distinctive eagle's feet of the 154 sweeping up beneath as we vanished into the snow and spindrift.

Built by engineers forging a Russia of cosmonauts, a Soviet Union for the space age, Tupolevs had been part of the new frontier, able to land anywhere, bringing aeronautical revolution to the farthest wastes of Mother Russia.

As we burst through the cloud in a dizzying climb, the seat beneath the man in leather creaked and flexed, stubbornly battling with gravity.

The woman's dog sank so far into her fur coat that only two terrified eyes were visible. Moonlight danced along the wing and I thought of Yuri Gagarin racing for the stars.

All too soon the lights of St Petersburg were beneath us. There was no fly-by-wire nonsense: the plane swept around, surging forward or floating as the muscles in the pilot's arms demanded. Purposefully, he brought "Petr Panov" down, a final flourish placing him softly upon the runway, the passengers breaking out into relieved applause.

More than 60 Tupolev 154s have crashed: extreme weather, idiocy or explosives usually to blame. Very few times have these Russian eagles themselves failed.

I stepped into the bus to the terminal and looked guiltily back at Petr. He looked reproachfully at me. My return flight was already booked – in an Airbus.

I am sorry Petr Panov, I am sorry. But next year I will fly with you again. Both ways.

[The SSK]

I've flown in 154s a number of times. My main recollection is of an extreme reluctance to gain altitude after takeoff.

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

I was lucky enough to be given a jumpseat ride including the takeoff on an Aeroflot 154 Leninabad (Tadjikistan) to Moscow daytime in the early nineties. Flightdeck crew consisted Capt and F/O, F/E and R/O and finally Security Officer. I count this as the most unusual of quite a few jollies on the flight-decks of various aeroplanes.:ok:

[wub]

They regularly operated into Edinburgh until just a few years ago

http://www.pbase.com/glenns/image/46805367.jpg