DUSHANBE
, April 24, Asia-Plus – Tajik Anti-Monopoly Committee expresses dissatisfaction of Tajik national airline Tojikiston’s rising individual air fares.
According to information from
Tajikistan
’s Anti-Monopoly Committee, the antimonopoly agency has sent a letter to the air carrier’s administration pointing to the necessity of lowering the individual air fares.
The source says that over the past two week the airline Tojikiston has increased the fares for flights to the
Russian Federation
. Thus, the Dushanbe-Moscow flight fare has increased over a week by 66 percent – from US$209 to US$345.
The antimonopoly agency has given a ruling to lower the individual fares of the Dushanbe-Moscow flight by 38 percent – from US$345 to US$250. The antimonopoly agency also demands lowering of fares of other international flights as well: for Dushanbe-Yekaterinburg (
Russia
) from US$380 to US$220; Dushanbe-Novosibirsk (
Russia
) from US$290 to US$230; Dushanbe-Almaty (
Kazakhstan
) from US$160 to US$150 and Dushanbe-Bishkek (
Kyrgyzstan
) from US$150 to US$140.
“The national air carrier has no right to raise individual air fares without coordination with the antimonopoly commission even because of rising fuel prices or any other reasons,” the source said, adding that increase in individual air fares is reported annually in the spring-summer season because during this period labor migrants leave the country for Russia and other CIS states in search of better employment opportunities.
In the meantime, the source in the airline “Tojikiston” says that in July 2005
Tajikistan
’s government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement on supporting
Tajikistan
’s national air carrier “Tojikiston”. “Under one of points of this agreement the airline “Tojikiston” has the right of determining individual air fares in accordance with cost prices,” the source said, noting that Tajik parliament ratified that document in December last year.
As it had been reported earlier, under this agreement the EBRD loans Tajik air carrier US$5 million to lease two new aircraft.
The EBRD with support of Japanese and Dutch donors has been working with the Tajik government since 1995 to improve the country’s air services.
These include: US$ 4 million in EBRD loans and US$ 2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Post-Conflict Support to improve air traffic control and air navigation systems in the two airports of the country; a US$ 1.8 million EBRD loan and US$ 2.5 million grant from the Japan Fund in 1999 for repairs to the Khujand runway; a US$ 4 million grant from the Netherlands for runway repairs in Dushanbe in 1997; and in late 2004 the EBRD Board approved a loan of US$ 5 million for Tajik State Air to cover expenses related to the airline’s plan to lease two or more relatively new western type airplanes.
