Russian charter carrier Azur Air, which plans to start scheduled services to Europe this summer, has gained 180-minute ETOPS approval.

“After we gained an ETOPS-120 certificate, we launched new routes to the Dominican Republic as well as several routes to the countries in Southeast Asia. ETOPS 180 [approval] allows us to perform flights using the most effective routes,” Azur Air general director Mikhail Kritsky said.

Azur Air is a charter airline operating flights from 30 Russian cities on 28 leisure destinations.

In February, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) granted the carrier a single air safety authorization.

Its fleet comprises nine Boeing 757-200s and five 767-300s.