Aurora is an air carrier focusing on the Russian Far East. It is a subsidiary of Aeroflot, the flag carrier and the largest airline in the Russian Federation. Aurora operates flights to 30 destinations, while its fleet size reaches 22 aircraft (in 2020).
The airline company was established in 2013 and performed its first flight the same year. While it was named after the Russian cruiser Aurora, this link does not seem to have been reflected in the logotype.
The Aurora logo combines the company name in a moderate sans with an emblem.
The name of the company is given in Russian in the main version of the logo. The type looks pretty heavy for an air company, partly due to the square ends of the letters. It is also generic – you will hardly find anything specific about it.
The emblem looks like the figure “8” slightly tilted to the left. It is a stylized representation of the landing strip. On the one hand, this creates a link with the company’s specialization. On the other, it does not have anything unique or memorable about it and can be interpreted in many other ways (the “8”, which is also an infinity symbol, is a very popular icon). Also, the ends of the letters seem too sharp to fit the sleek emblem.
On the more positive note, we can say that the circular shape of the glyphs echoes the shape of the two parts of the figure above.
While the blue color, generally, does have an air or sky connotation, this time, it looks too dark to activate this association in one’s head. Also, this shade of blue is very often used and is especially well-known as part of the marine theme.
The design was created by Landor Associates. The two parts of the infinity symbol represent the two airline companies that merged to create Aurora (the far-eastern part of Russia SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Avia). According to the press release, the designers who developed the Aurora logo and brand identity “were inspired by ancient cave paintings from Russia’s Far East”. Emma Beckmann, managing director of Landor Moscow, also mentioned that the infinity symbol on the emblem was “suggestive of the comfort and quality of Aurora’s service.”