Saratov Airlines (Saravia) Yakovlev Yak-42 Saratov to Moscow DME [AirClips full flight series]

Saratov Airlines (Saratov Airlines Joint Stock Company, Russian: Саратовские авиалинии) is a Russian airline headquartered in Saratov and based at Saratov Tsentralny Airport.
Saratov Airlines was founded in 1931. It was called "Saratov United Air Squad" and was a part of Aeroflot. The airline has received a prestigious award, "Krylia Rossii" (Russian Wings), three times. Until 2013 it operated as Saravia (Russian: Саравиа).

In December 2013, Saratov Airlines, became the first Russian operator of Embraer E-Jets, with the arrival of two Embraer 195 114-seat aircraft.

On 14 October 2015, the Russian aviation authorities sanctioned Saratov Airlines after a violation of security rules. The airline is therefore no longer allowed to operate flights to destinations outside of Russia from 26 October 2015.

The Yakovlev Yak-42 (NATO reporting name: "Clobber") is a 100/120-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet. It is the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines. The Yak-42D is the long-range version (Dahl'niy – long range) increased fuel. Replaced standard Yak-42 in production.
In 1972, the Yakovlev design bureau started work on a short to medium range airliner capable of carrying 100–120 passengers. It was intended to be a replacement for the Tupolev Tu-134 jet as well as the Ilyushin Il-18, Antonov An-24 and An-26 turboprop airliners. While the new airliner was required to operate out relatively small airfields while maintaining good economy, as many Soviet airports had been upgraded to accommodate more advanced aircraft, it did not have to have the same ability to operate from grass strips as Yakovlev's smaller Yak-40. The requirement resulted in the largest, heaviest and most powerful aircraft designed by Yakovlev so far.

Initial design proposals included a straight-wing airliner powered by two Soloviev D-30 turbofans and resembling an enlarged Yak-40, but this was rejected as it was considered uncompetitive compared to Western airliners powered by high bypass ratio turbofans. Yakovlev settled on a design powered by three of the new Lotarev D-36 three-shaft high bypass turbofans, which were to provide 63.90 kN (14,330 lbf) of thrust. Unlike the Yak-40, the new airliner would have swept wings.

The Yak-42 is a low-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, with a design lifespan of 30,000 one-hour flights. It has a pressurised fuselage of circular section, with the cabin designed to carry 120 passengers in six abreast layout (or 100 passengers for local services with greater space allocated to carry-on luggage and coat stowage). The aircraft is flown by a flight crew of two pilots sitting side-by-side in a flight deck forward of the cabin. Access is via two airstairs, one in the underside of the rear fuselage, like that of the Yak-40, and one forward of the cabin on the port side. Two holds are located under the cabin, carrying baggage, cargo and mail.
The first production aircraft was completed on 28 April 1978, with the first scheduled passenger flight, on the Aeroflot Moscow-Krasnodar route taking place on 22 December 1980. Production was at first slow, with only 10 flown by mid-1981. Initial aircraft were fitted for 120 seats in a three-plus-three arrangement. This was soon changed to a first class section with two-plus-two seating, and a main cabin with ninety six seats, giving a total of 104 seats.
In its first year of operation Aeroflot's Yak-42s carried about 200,000 passengers, mainly on routes from Moscow, but also on international services from Leningrad to Helsinki and from Donetsk to Prague, with the type being planned to enter wider service throughout the Aeroflot fleet. On 28 June 1982, however, the tailplane detached from an Aeroflot Yak-42 in flight owing to a failure of the actuator screw jack, causing the aircraft to crash fatally near Mazyr. The type was grounded as a result, not returning to service until October 1984.
An export order for seven aircraft was announced in 1982 by Aviogenex of Yugoslavia, but the contract lapsed. The availability of the longer-range Yak-42D variant from 1991 onwards gave rise to a few more export sales, to Cuba and China. As of 1 January 1995 a total of 185 Yak-42 had been produced, including 105 Yak-42D.