Aeroflot (SU) turns 85 this month and has come a long, long way. Not long ago, the thought of flying on Russia’s national carrier meant the fear of flying on ancient, broken down Tupolev aircraft, crummy inflight service and questionable schedules. Now, the airline is up in the ranks of any ol’ international carrier and with numerous flights departing from New York every day we don’t give a second thought to boarding an Aeroflot Jet. I’ve flown SU a few times over the past years and have to agree — they’re in decent shape.
As part of their celebration/advertising campaign for the event, Aeroflot has created a website highlighting some of their ads and images over the last century. While the site is in Russian, the scrolling bar at the bottom of the page links to some of the old images, many of which hearken back to the days of Communism. It’s really interesting to see how the advertising developed.
As a note to the domestic carriers, Aeroflot handed out frequent flyer miles like candy to their passengers as a birthday gift. Take a hint.