As early as 1919, Russian planes were making flights to Budapest. The service became popular quickly, and in February 1923 the Soviet government established Aeroflot as the nation's official airline. It became the first to offer regular passenger service on turbojets, with a September 1956 flight from Irkutsk to Moscow. Aeroflot also developed the first supersonic airliner, the TU-144, whose maiden flight took place on New Year's Eve 1968, two months before the Concorde. Regular cargo flights began in 1975 and passenger service in 1977, but after 102 flights supersonic service was suspended in 1978. Today Aeroflot is the world's fourth largest commercial airline, flying to 140 destinations in 94 countries and offering non-stop service between Moscow and the United States, with a fleet of more than 100 planes. Aeroflot also maintains a partnership with Air France.

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