# MiGFlug

MiGFlug GmbH is a Zurich, Switzerland-based Aviation and Space Adventure company specialized in fighter jet flights. The company was founded in 2004 by current CEO Philipp Schaer and Flavio Kaufmann. As of 2015, offerings included jet trainer flights, supersonic flights, edge of space flights, zero gravity flights and suborbital space flights.

## Company

Philipp Schaer is the current CEO of MiGFlug. He co-founded the company in 2004, with another student at the University of Zurich. They initially got the idea during a trip to Moscow, when bumping into a fighter pilot and convincing him to take them for a ride. A few days later that pilot smuggled them into a Russian airbase and took off with both of them. Later that year, the pair found a legal way to offer those flights in Russia using aircraft such as a Sukhoi Su-30 and the then-fastest fighter jet ever built, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25. The company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and registered in the commercial register of Lucerne. MiGFlug's main business is offering flights in military fighter jets for civilians, including supersonic flights. It started with jet flights from Ramenskoye Airport, Russia. MiGFlug has been shown on Lonely Planet's Year of Adventures with Ben Fogle, and broadcast on BBC. A number of notable passengers have flown in one of the company's fighter jets, including Anthony Bourdain, Zoltán Báthory, Joel Kinnaman, Miss India 2010 Manasvi Mamgai, TyDi, Josh Cartu, "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff, Alan Walker, Jake Paul, Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, Joko Winterscheidt, Jan Marsalek, Roberto Chevalier and Pauline Nordin.
Several of MiGFlug's jets and pilots have appeared in movies, TV, and advertisements. For example, an L-39 appeared in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies in the opening scene. MiGFlug has produced several Galileo episodes for ProSieben, as well as a zero gravity flight for Joko gegen Klaas. Porsche, Mercedes-Benz Diesel, OnePlus, IGN, and Swiss diary company Emmi AG produced advertisements or advertorials with MiGFlug.
MiGFlug's subsidiary GoAviator specializes in vintage flights, for example in warbirds and biplanes. MiGFlug also has a popular blog, covering aviation topics, with a focus on military aviation.
Since 2015, MiGFlug has offered formation jet flights with up to six passengers flying at the same time in close formation in an L-39.
In some locations MiGFlug also offers flights to customers in wheelchairs, who enter the L-39 jets with the help of a forklift.

## Aircraft flown

| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | Notes | Flight Location |
| Combat Aircraft ||||||
| Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum | Soviet Union | Multirole combat aircraft, air superiority fighter | MiG-29 UB | Only supersonic flight currently available for civilians. Edge of space flight up to 20 km (12 mi). MiG-29 flights temporarily stopped in 2017 and haven't resumed since. | Russia |
| Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | United States | Interceptor aircraft, fighter-bomber aircraft | Lockheed F-104 Starfighter | Currently only for qualified pilots (with Private pilot licence or Commercial pilot licence). | United States |
| Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (NATO reporting name "Midget") | Soviet Union | Jet fighter aircraft | S-102 | Built in Czech Republic in license as S-102 by Aero Vodochody | Czech Republic Canada |
| Hawker Hunter | United Kingdom | Fighter-bomber | Hunter Mk-58 | Operated by Swiss Air Force as long as 1994 | Switzerland |
| De Havilland Vampire | United Kingdom | Jet fighter aircraft | Vampire DH-115 Mk 55 | Operated by Swiss Air Force as long as 1990 | Switzerland United Kingdom Canada |
| BAC Strikemaster | United Kingdom | Attack aircraft | | | United Kingdom |
| Military Jet Trainer ||||||
| Aero L-39 Albatros | Czech Republic | Military trainer aircraft, light ground attack | L-39C | Highest production number of any military jet trainers worldwide with 2900 units produced. The L-39 Albatros was the first second-generation jet trainer in production and the first trainer aircraft with a turbofan powerplant. | United States Czech Republic Germany Latvia France Switzerland Italy (earlier in Spain) |
| Aero L-29 Delfin | Czech Republic | Military trainer aircraft, light attack | | | Slovakia |
| SIAI-Marchetti S.211 | Italy | Military trainer aircraft, light attack | | | Germany |
| Aermacchi MB-326 | Italy | Advanced trainer/light attack | | The MB-326 did not see service with the Italian Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team, who kept the Fiat G.91. They were later replaced by the MB-326 successor, the MB-339. | Italy |
| BAC Jet Provost | United Kingdom | Military trainer aircraft | | | Italy United Kingdom |
| Lockheed T-33 | United States | Military trainer aircraft | | | Canada |

## Aircraft flown in the past

Jets offered from Ramenskoye Airbase near Moscow in Russia from 2004-2006 included MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29 and the Su-27. Through a cooperation with Thunder City in Cape Town, South Africa, MiGFlug offered English Electric Lightning and Blackburn Buccaneer flights. MiGFlug also organized T-38 supersonic flights in the US for Galileo/ProSieben. From 2006-2009, MiGflug offered Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound flights and from 2006-2017 Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum flights from Sokol Airbase, in Nizhny Novgorod.

## Spacecraft and zero gravity

Weightless flight offers include the Ilyushin Il-76 from Star City (Zvyozdny gorodok) near Moscow and a Boeing 727 in the United States, through a cooperation agreement with the Zero Gravity Corporation. MiGFlug also had an arrangement to offer future sub-orbital spaceflights in the XCOR Lynx; Xcor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017.

## Planned future flights

According to monthly German aerobatic magazine FliegerRevue, MiGFlug plans to offer stratosphere flights, or so-called "Edge of Space" flights, in both MiG-21 and MiG-23 aircraft to replace the MiG-29, which has no longer been available since late 2017.

## Cancellation of Russian flight offers due to War in Ukraine

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, MiGFlug announced to stop all remaining offers in Russia and spend any profits made with Russian flights to support Ukraine.