DUSHANBE, January 12, 2009, Asia-Plus — Tajik air company, TajikAir, intends to replace Soviet-made Yak-40s and AN-24s that have already outlived their service with China’s MA-60s, according to TajikAir.
“We plan to replace to Soviet-made Yak-40s and AN-24s with more modern China’s MA-60s that are provided with up-to-date equipment and engines,” a source at TajikAir said, noting that negotiations on purchase of two MA-60s were under way.
This project is part of the program on provision by China of a long-term preferential loan to Tajikistan, according to the source.
The Xian MA-60 (60, “Modern Ark 60″) is a turboprop-powered airliner made by China”s Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I). The MA-60 is a stretched version of the Xi”an Y7-200A with crew of two pilots and capacity of 60 passengers. The plane was first tested in 1993, and given its airworthiness certificate in 1998 from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. A year later, two MA60s were put into operation by Chang’an Airlines.
As of October 26, XAC has received over 90 MA-60 orders. The factory had delivered 23 MA-60s by the end of 2006, and expects to deliver an additional 165 units by the end of 2016.
In the meantime, a meeting of TajikAir’s administration was held at the end of last week to review the results of work carried out by the company in 2008.
During the meeting, it was noted that TajikAir carried some 616,000 passengers last year, which was 7.2 percent more than in 2007. In 2008, Tajik air carrier shipped 2,400 tons of cargoes, 13.7 percent more than in 2007.
The company is currently working on opening new air routes from Dushanbe to the Russian cities, Baku (Azerbaijan) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany); both charter and regular flights will be operated on these routes.
