Tajikistan’s national air carrier, Tajik Air, has resumed regular flights on an air route connecting Dushanbe and Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous region (GBAO).
After the seven-year interruption, the flight on the Dushanbe-Khorog air route was operated on October 3. The pilots were given a reception at the Khorog airport.
“The plane was full, there were 17 passengers and the flight went well,” said an official sources within the Dushanbe airport.
Antonov-28 is used to operate the Dushanbe-Khorog flight.
The flight is expected to be operated three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, if weather permits.
As it had been reported earlier, the resumed regular flight from Dushanbe to Khorog was scheduled for September 30 but it was postponed due to bad weather.
Recall, Tajikistan's aviation authorities stated in July this year that that the primary reason for the lack of air service between Dushanbe and Khorog remains the absence of an aircraft suitable for high altitude conditions.
"Currently, work is underway with the Somon Air Company,” Habibullo Nazarzoda, Director of the Civil Aviation Agency under the Government of Tajikistan, told reporters in Dushanbe on July 24.
It should be noted that Tajik Air had previously operated this route, but it is currently inactive because the available planes are not in flight-worthy condition. Specifically, according to Nazarzoda, two AN-28 aircraft, which previously operated regular flights to Khorog, are inoperable.
The head of the agency reminded that a year ago, there was a presentation of the L410 NG aircraft (produced by the Czech company LET Aircraft Industries), which was planned to be purchased for flights to Khorog. "A test flight was conducted on the Dushanbe-Khorog route. However, the aircraft's altitude characteristics do not allow it to fly this route on a regular basis," he said.
Nazarzoda further noted that other proposals for acquiring a suitable aircraft would be considered in the near future, and flights on this route will resume. He did not specify which proposals are being considered.
It is worth reminding that Tajik Air suspended flights on this air route in October 2016. Before that, the flights to Khorog were reportedly carried out by a sole remained Antonov-28 in the Tajik Air’s fleet. This plane outlived its service life a long time ago. The price of air ticket for the Dushanbe-Khorog flight operated by Tajik Air was 681 somonis.
In 2019, Tajikistan PACTEC International Company operated several flights to Khorog from the military airfield in Fakhrobod, using a private six-seat plane. The price for the ticket was 1,100 somonis (In 2019, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Tajik national currency, the somoni, was about 1:9.4).
Dushanbe International Airport (DIA) in June the same year prohibited PACTEC International Company from operating flights to Khorog demanding concluding an agreement and paying 101 USD for each landing at Khorog airport.
On June 16, 2020, Tajik Air resumed flights from Dushanbe to Khorog for a while, using its Antonov-28. The air ticket for the Dushanbe-Khorog flight cost 990 somonis (In June 2020, the exchange rate of US dollar against the somoni was 1:10.3).
