UTair Aviation carried 5.6 million domestic passengers in 2016, up 25.5% year-over-year (YOY), according to the Russian carrier. Overall, the airline carried a total of 6.6 million passengers, up 20.1% YOY, ATWonline reported.

UTair cited network development and frequencies increase, as well as a 2-point load factor rise to 71.9%, for the results.

In 2016, UTair’s network exceeded 160 destinations. The airline expanded the number of routes in the south of the country and in Siberia. It launched flights from Novy Urengoy in the north part of Western Siberia to Tyumen and Moscow, and started one of its shortest services—Krasnodar-Sochi—and connected both of these cities with Yerevan (Armenia).

In addition, UTair resumed Moscow-Minsk (Belarus) and Moscow-Baku (Azerbaijan) flights, and added 45 new international destinations to the network as a result of interline agreements.

UTair Aviation is the fourth biggest airline in Russia. Its fleet includes more than 60 aircraft. The airline's biggest base is at Moscow Vnukovo airport, while Tyumen and Surgut are significant secondary bases.