KULOB, April 11, 2009, Asia-Plus — Speaking at a press conference in Kulob on April 10, the Kulob airport director Ali Komilov said that they had constructed their own coating plant.
According to him, specialists expect the plant to allow the airport saving 396,605 US dollars per year because the airport will not have to purchase overpriced asphalt and bitumen any more. Moreover, the quality of asphalt produced in the region leaves much to be desired, Komilov said, adding that the coating plant will also allow creating some ten new jobs.
The airport director also noted that they had launched a new flight to Moscow over the first quarter of this year. “We have leased aircraft from Tajik air company, Tajik Air, to operate this flight,” Komilov said.
Five flights Kulob-Moscow are now operated — one flight is operated by Tajik Air and four others are operated by Russia’s Ural Airlines. In all, 5,875 people have traveled from Kulob to Moscow by plane in January-March this year, which is 1,566 people fewer than in the same period of last year.
The Kulob airport is currently conducting negotiations with a number of other air curriers on launching new air routes to Russia and Central Asia’s states, the director said.
