Russian airline Alrosa performs last Tu-134 flight

Today, 22nd May, Russian airline Alrosa (the aviation arm of the diamond-mining conglomerate of the same name) operated a Tupolev Tu-134 flight for the very last time.

Flight 6R-693, from Mirniy (the Siberian mining town where the Alrosa is headquartered) to Novosibirsk means the end of an era for this workhorse of Russian domestic aviation. The aircraft is next going to be taken to the aviation museum next to Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport, where it is going to join another classic, a Tu-154 (that also flew for Alrosa until September 2018).

Alrosa, whose fleet used to include Tu-154s, Tu-134s and Il-86s, is now considering options for fleet replacement. It has been adding Boeing 737NGs and it has also touted the Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100 as a possible replacement of legacy Soviet/Russian-made airliners.