- published: 23 Aug 2013
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OJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines (Russian: ОАО «Аэрофло́т-Росси́йские авиали́нии», OAO Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye avialinii) (MICEX-RTS: AFLT), commonly known as Aeroflot (Russian: Аэрофлот, English translation: "air fleet"), is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year. Aeroflot operates domestic and international passenger services covering a network of 97 cities in 48 countries, mainly from its hub at Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Aeroflot is one of the oldest airlines in the world, tracing its history back to 1923. In 1956, it became the first airline to successfully operate regular jet airliner services with the Tupolev Tu-104.
During the Soviet era, Aeroflot was the Soviet national airline and the largest airline in the world. Following the dissolution of the USSR, Aeroflot has been transformed from a state-run enterprise into a semi-privatised airline which ranks amongst the most profitable in the world. Aeroflot is still considered the de facto national airline of Russia. It is 51%-owned by the Russian Government, as of June 2011[update]. The company has completely owned Donavia since early 2007, when it boosted its stake in the Rostov-on-Don–based airline —then-named Aeroflot-Don— from 51% to 100%.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (/ˈtʃɑrlz/ or /ˈʃɑrl dəˈɡɔːl/; French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol] ( listen); 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.
A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of mobile armoured divisions, which he considered would become central in modern warfare. During World War II, he earned the rank of brigadier general (retained throughout his life), leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Battle of France in May in Montcornet, and then briefly served in the French government as France was falling. De Gaulle was the most senior French military officer to reject the June 1940 armistice to Nazi Germany right from the outset.
He escaped to Britain and gave a famous radio address, broadcast by the BBC on 18 June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany and organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in Britain. As the war progressed de Gaulle gradually gained control of all French colonies except Indochina most of which had at first been controlled by the pro-German Vichy regime. Despite earning a reputation for being a difficult man to do business with, by the time of the Allied invasion of France in 1944 he was heading what amounted to a French government in exile, but although he insisted that France be treated as a great independent power by the other Allies, the Americans in particular remained deeply suspicious of his motives. De Gaulle became prime minister in the French Provisional Government, resigning in 1946 because of political conflicts.
I don't know about you, but I'm sitting pretty
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
Vodka on ice, and a hostess who's witty
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
Buckle up, buckle up, buckle up, daddy-o
Stow your bags overhead or it ain't a go
Buckle up, buckle up, buckle up, daddy-o
You never know, you never know, do you
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
We've got reservations
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
We've got reservations
I don't know about you, but I love adventure
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
On Aeroflot, every flight's an adventure
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
Stretch on out, daddy-o, we're talking space
Every pilot is an honored Mig ace
Leningrad, St. Petersburg, in either case
You never know, you never you, do you
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot"
We've got reservations
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
We've got reservations
Way back in coach they're singing 'Viva Vacation'
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
Up here in business is the United Nations
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
Blinis on your plate and Eisenstein on screen
Richard Branson must be turning red or green
Stewardesses look like high-school beauty queens
They never say nyet, service supreme, supreme
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
We've got reservations
We're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot, we're flying Aeroflot
We've got reservations