Russian carrier Ural Airlines’ long-standing chief, Sergei Skuratov, is stepping down from the post through retirement after more than three decades.
His son, deputy and commercial director Kirill Skuratov, is taking over as the head of the company.
Ural Airlines says the board accepted the resignation of the elder Skuratov, and approved his successor, during an extraordinary meeting.
Sergei Skuratov has been at the helm of Ural Airlines for over 30 years following his appointment to the post in 1993.
Ural Airlines has evolved, under his direction, from a regional carrier to become one of the five most prominent airlines in Russia.
“Over the past years, the airline has come a long way,” he says. “We have trained a huge [group] of wonderful pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, businessmen, financiers, ground service workers – all of them a real asset to the Urals and the country.”
He started his aviation career as an Antonov An-2 pilto with a Sverdlovsk air division, subsequently moving on to such types as the An-26, Tupolev Tu-154 and Ilyushin Il-86.
Skuratov served with the Ural civil aviation directorate as flight-safety inspection head and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, became the chief of Ural Airlines. The carrier developed to become an all-Airbus operator.
Kirill Skuratov has worked for the Ekaterinburg-based carrier since 1996, with positions from engineering to management.
