Aeroflot Day: date, history, traditions

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The holiday we want to tell you about is a kind of confusion about the dates. What date is Aeroflot Day celebrated? Does it have anything to do with civil aviation? How is it different from the Day of the Air Force of the Russian Federation, or is it the same thing? Let's figure it all out.

When is the holiday celebrated?

Aeroflot Day does not have a specific date for the celebration. It is traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in February. In 2017, for example, it was February 12th, and in 2018 it will be February 11th.

The holiday has a second name - Civil Aviation Day. Although it is not a red mark on the calendar, it is difficult to overestimate its significance, because the modern world, the modern state is difficult to imagine without civil aircraft.

Whose day is this?

Who is congratulated on Aeroflot Day? The whole team of people who provide both the opportunity and the safety and comfort of air travel:

• Flight personnel.
• Aircraft design, test bureaus.
• Team of flight attendants.
• Control rooms.
• Technical teams.
• Maintenance personnel, etc.

Also,that on this day warm congratulations are given to those who have connected their lives with aviation, it happens traditionally and the following:

• Rewarding the best workers.
• Honoring those who once again proved their professionalism in the most urgent situations.
• Initiation for beginners.
• Presenting memorable gifts to aviation veterans.

History of the holiday

What is not clear for everyone when Aeroflot Day is celebrated is connected with the Soviet history of the holiday:

• From 1923 to 1979, the celebration of this significant date traditionally fell on February 9th. It was on this day in 1923 that the Civil Aviation Board was created.
• In 1979, it was decided to celebrate Aeroflot Day on the second Sunday of February.
• In 1988, a new decree was issued: the Aeroflot holiday was combined with another significant date - the Day of the Soviet Air Fleet. Therefore, the celebration has shifted to August 19. But not for long again.
• In the late 90s, already at the time of the modern Russian Federation, it was decided to celebrate the Day of the Russian Aeroflot historically - on the second February Sunday. This has been going on for more than a decade, right up to the present.

History of domestic Aeroflot

Speaking of Aeroflot Day, it would not be superfluous to make a brief introductory excursion into the history of Russian civil aviation, which has been over 100 years old.

The first Russian aircraft designers began their activities at the very beginning of XXcentury. These are such outstanding people as J. Gakkel, I. Steglau, S. Sikorsky. We owe it to them that we owe the development and creation of the first Russian aircraft.

1918 - the creation of the Collegium of the Air Fleet. At that difficult time, she did not deviate from her main task: creating a solid theoretical foundation for the domestic aircraft industry, starting the production of her own aircraft. In the same year, the Moscow Central Aerodynamic Institute was founded, which took only a few years to become the flagship of the Soviet aircraft engineering. In parallel with this, design bureaus and universities are beginning to appear throughout the country, preparing future high-class aircraft engineers.

On February 23, 1932, the Soviet Aeroflot was officially founded - the Main Directorate of the country's Air Fleet was established. It took him only twenty years to enter the list of the 20 largest air carriers in the world.

Leading positions, carrying about 9 million passengers (7 million - directly by Aeroflot itself, 2 million - by its subsidiaries, which is about a quarter of all air transportation in Russia) annually, the airline of the same name occupies to this day. And it currently controls about half of all air travel in the country.

About Russian Air Force Day

Finally, we will tell you about another significant holiday, which is often confused with Aeroflot Day. This is the third Sunday of August, Russian Air Force Day. Traditionally, he is honored with1992 - by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Russian Council. However, unlike Civil Aviation Day, the vector of the holiday is paramilitary - there are demonstration air performances, unforgettable shows with the participation of fighters, an air parade of equipment, etc.

It is believed that we owe the foundation of the air fleet holiday to two absolutely dissimilar rulers - Nicholas II and Joseph Stalin:

• On August 12, 1912, the last Russian emperor ordered the creation of the first unit in the empire under the Main Directorate of the General Staff, which was engaged in the development of the air force.
• Stalin, in turn, ordered to make August 18 a holiday dedicated to the Soviet air fleet already in 1933.

That's all we wanted to tell you about the two most important air holidays in Russia. The confusion in them arose due to the postponement of the Day of Civil Aviation, Aeroflot, which is why many still believe that this holiday is the same as the Day of the Russian Air Force. However, the latter is dedicated to the military aviation fleet.