Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, is reportedly continuing to work on resuming domestic flights en route Dushanbe – Khorog – Dushanbe.
The airline, however, says it needs benefits to operate domestic flights.
“We are currently doing everything in our power to resume the flight Dushanbe – Khorog – Dushanbe,” Aziz Khairulloyev, a spokesman for Tajik Air, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, they have already made application for spare parts for a sole remained AN-28 in the airline’s fleet, which was used to operate flights to Khorog.
“We have sent all necessary documents for benefits to the Ministry of Transport and hope for affirmative response,” Khairulloyev said.
Recall, an official source at Tajik Air told Asia-Plus last month “On instruction of the Government of Tajikistan, we continue to work actively in this direction. We set a goal to renew this flight.”
The airline noted that Khorog is a strategically important area. “We understand this well, and the whole issue in terms of the resumption of flights on this air route is now reduced to the technical preparation of our AN-28. This is a financial issue, and it is, of course, must be solved, but for us it is also important to ensure the safety of flights on this air route”, the source said.
Tajik Air suspended flights on this air route in October last year. Before that, the flights to Khorog were carried out by a sole remained AN-28 in the Tajik Air’s fleet.
On July 8, 2015, a group of citizens released an open letter asking President Emomali Rahmon to assist in resolving the issue of streamlining Dushanbe– Khorog – Dushanbe flights.
The appeal, which was signed by more than 140 citizens, asked the president to promote regularity of flights, improve their quality and safety, as well as establish affordable air ticket prices based on the solvency of the population, as these people use the services provided by the airport in Dushanbe.
One notes, at present, Tajik Air flies en route Dushanbe-Khorog-Dushanbe on its AN-28 aircraft.
“According to the aviation authorities, this air transport meets all the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association. However, the actual flights on these aircraft are becoming more dangerous”, the statement said.
At the same time, in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Faizullo Sattorov Deputy Director General, Tajik Air, on July 23, 2015 called the Dushanbe-Khorog flight as one of the most difficult ones in the world and emphasized that, despite the difficulties, the flight is unprofitable for Tajik Air. Mr. Sattorov assured that except for AN-28, they cannot use any other airliners for this destination.
Currently, one can get to Khorog only by road, which was last paved in the territory of the Gorno Badakhshan Region during the Soviet Union existence in 1980th.
