DUSHANBE, October 28, Asia-Plus — Tajik national air carrier, TajikAir, intends to launch the twice-weekly service to Istanbul, Turkey.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Nazira Davlatova, a spokeswoman for TajikAir, said that beginning on November 1, TajikAir will operate flights to Istanbul twice a week – on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
“The flight will be conducted on Boeing 737-800 that was delivered to Dushanbe from the Czech Republic on October 14,” the spokeswoman said, noting that the leased Boeing made its first flight on the route Dushanbe-Tehran on October 15.
It is already the third Western type aircraft leased by Tajik air carrier.
In the meantime, the fourth Western type aircraft – Boeing 757-200 – is expected to arrive in Dushanbe within the next few days. This aircraft will make flights to Frankfurt am main, Germany. The air route from Dushanbe to Frankfurt am Main is expected to be launched after November 20 this year.
Boeing 737-800 is one of the newest members of the Boeing 737 family along with -600, -700 and -900 models. They continue the 737”s pre-eminence as the world”s most popular and reliable commercial jet transport.
The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, and replaces the 737-400. It also filled the gap left by Boeing”s discontinuation of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 after Boeing”s merger with McDonnell Douglas. The -800 was launched by Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUlfly) in 1994 and entered service in 1998. The 737-800 seats 162 passengers in a two class layout, or 189 in one class, and competes with the A320. For many airlines in the U.S., the 737-800 replaced aging Boeing 7237-200 trijets.
The 737 family has won orders for more than 6,000 airplanes, which is more airplanes than The Boeing Company”s biggest competitor has won for its entire product line since it began business. The 737 – a short-to-medium-range airplane – is based on a key Boeing philosophy of delivering added value to airlines with reliability, simplicity and reduced operating and maintenance costs.
