Hunnu Air
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 Hunnu Air Embraer 190 departing from Chinggis Khaan International Airport | |||||||
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| Founded | 2011 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Chinggis Khaan International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Baikal International Airport[1] | ||||||
| Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
| Destinations | 9 | ||||||
| Parent company | Mongolyn Alt MAK LLC | ||||||
| Headquarters | Sükhbaatar district, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia[2] | ||||||
| Key people | Nyamtaishir (Director of Board) | ||||||
| Website | hunnuair.com | ||||||
Hunnu Air (Mongolian: Хүннү Эйр, romanized: Hünnü Eir) is a Mongolian airline that began scheduled flights in 2011. The company changed its name from Mongolian Airlines Group (Mongolian: Монголиан Аэрлайнес Групп) in April 2013 to avoid confusion with the similarly named Mongolian international flag carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines. The company slogan is Wings of Mongolia.[3] The name Hunnu refers to the Mongolian spelling of the Xiongnu.
History
[edit]Hunnu Air is backed by the mining company Mongolyn Alt MAK LLC and the Bodi Group. The airline was launched as Mongolian Airlines on 2 December 2011 following the acquisition of Monnis Air Services and its fleet of Antonov An-2 single-engine biplane aircraft. Confusion soon arose over the name and its similarity to that of MIAT Mongolian Airlines and in April 2013, threatened with a legal dispute and possible government intervention, the name was changed to Hunnu Air.[4]
The airline purchased two Fokker 50 aircraft in 2011 and operated its first scheduled domestic flight (from Ulaanbaatar to Bayankhongor) on 2 January 2012. Other domestic routes were later opened from Ulaanbaatar to Mörön, Choibalsan, Khovd and Dalanzadgad. With the leasing of two Airbus A319 aircraft, delivered in January 2012, it was able to launch services to Tokyo and subsequently Bangkok, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In July 2013 a third Fokker 50 was acquired.[4] Hunnu Air also operated charter flights to destinations such as Jeju, Hainan and Shizuoka.[4]
Hunnu Air introduced its first long-haul direct flight from Ulaanbaatar to Paris for the summer period of 2014,[4] with one technical stop, using an Airbus A319. The airline planned to acquire an Airbus A330 aircraft and relaunch long-haul direct flights in 2015[4] to include Singapore, but this never materialized due to a financial crisis.[5] The two Airbus A319s were repossessed by their owner late in 2014.[6]
In 2019 and 2023, it acquired two Embraer 190 aircraft.[5]
In 2025, it was announced that two Embraer 195-E2 will be added to the fleet from April 2025.[7]
Fleet
[edit]Current fleet
[edit]
As of March 2025[update], the Hunnu Air fleet includes the following aircraft:[8]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | W | Y | Total | ||||
| ATR 42-500 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 48 | 48 | [9] |
| Embraer 190 | 2 | — | 6 | 16 | 76 | 98 | [10] |
| 9 | 0 | 88 | 97 | ||||
| Embraer 195-E2 | — | 2 | 0 | 16 | 120 | 136 | [11] |
| Total | 3 | 2 | |||||
Former fleet
[edit]The airline previously operated the following aircraft:
Pandemic and post-pandemic:
During the pandemic, Hunnu Air was brought to a standstill. However, to ensure the continuation of passenger flight services, the airline began operating special duty flights to cities facing difficult conditions. In 2023, with the addition of a second Embraer 190 aircraft, Hunnu Air gained new opportunities to expand its network to new destinations.
Incidents and accidents
[edit]A Hunnu Air ATR-72-500, registered JU-8802, experienced an in-flight incident during which the torque and several other parameters of the left engine suddenly dropped while cruising at 22,615 feet, approximately 70 km from Murun (ZMMN) Airport, at 11:40 UTC. The flight crew shut down the engine at around 11:47 UTC and proceeded to land safely at Murun Airport. Following a review of the flight data, inspection of the HMU (Hydromechanical Unit), and related findings, it was concluded that the loss of torque, ITT, Nh, Nl, fuel flow, and other engine readings on the left engine during the July 23, 2017 Ulaangom to Ulaanbaatar flight was most likely caused by an internal malfunction of the HMU. This malfunction prevented the unit from responding to necessary parameter adjustments.
References
[edit]
- ^ "Hunnu Air откроет авиарейс из Улан-Удэ в Манчжурию". gazeta-n1.ru. 20 May 2018.
- ^ "Hunnu Air Website". Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Монголиан Аэрлайнес Групп ХХК-ийн оноосон нэр "Хүннү Эйр" болон өөрчлөгдсөн тухай албан мэдэгдэл". Gogo.mn (in Mongolian).
- ^ a b c d e Schmitz, Sebastian (December 2014). "Conquering Mongolia". Airliner World: 53–58.
- ^ a b Meier, Ricardo (2023-09-17). "Mongolian airline Hunnu Air has received its second Embraer E190". Air Data News. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
- ^ "Conquering Mongolia". Airliner World: 17. January 2015.
- ^ "Hunnuair.com Official Site | Travel Deals and Promotions". www.hunnuair.com. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 21.
- ^ "Mongolia's Hunnu Air begins ATR42-500 operations". Ch-Aviation. 17 August 2022.
- ^ "Hunnu Air becomes first Mongolian customer of Embraer E-Jets". airlinerwatch.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-26.
- ^ "Mongolia's Hunnu Air to lease two E195-E2s". Ch-Aviation. 6 February 2025.
