DUSHANBE, June 22, Asia-Plus – Boeing 737-200 wet-leased by Tajik national air carrier, TajikAir, with its own funds, is the most optimal choice for Tajik airline, TajikAir administration said, commenting on the June 21 “Asia-Plus Blitz” item titled “TajikAir cuts a dash by wet-leasing Boeing 737-200, says expert.”
Nazira Davlatova, a spokeswoman for TajikAir, noted that this aircraft wet-leasing agreement is the first step of Tajik national air carrier towards handling wet type aircraft. According to her, with support of the company EASTOK AVIA (FZE) Tajik pilots will be trained in operating this west type aircraft. “Next week, pilots from unit 1 of TajikAir will be sent to the CIS states and some other countries to take training courses on operating west type aircraft,” the spokeswoman said.
Thereby, the leased Boeing 737-200 will gradually be shifted from wet-leasing to dry-leasing service, according to her. “As pilots, technical personnel and air hostesses finish refresher courses, TajikAir will pay only for leasing the aircraft,” said Davlatova, “The lessor, EASTOK AVIA (FZE), is interested in this itself and its representatives have offered assistance to the Tajik national air carrier.”
“By the way, the aircraft leased from EASTOK AVIA was driven from the United States a month ago especially for TajikAir and its service life does not cause doubt,” Davlatova said.
She added that before singing the aircraft leasing agreement they had conducted feasibility study, and according to this study, Boeing 737-200 can fly for long distances. “However, in order not to hurt our pilots in their flying activity, operating flights to Moscow, the leased aircraft has not been included on this air route,” the spokeswoman said.
According to her, the leased Boeing 737-200 now flies from Khujand to Moscow and in future, it will be also used on air routes from Dushanbe to Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Tehran, Almaty and Bishkek.
Boeing 737-200 was leased to partially replace TU-134s operating by TajikAir. “TajikAir’s TU-134s are outliving their service life soon, while the company does not have financial resources to maintain their usefulness, therefore, leasing Boeing 737-200 was an opportune and expedient step,” Nazira Davlatova said.
She confirmed that EASTOK AVIA registered in Sharjah (the United Arab Emirates) as the Free Zone Entity (FZE) also operates Bishkek. It deals with providing aircraft leasing and chartering services. “But the aircraft recommended by EASTOK AVIA has never belonged to any of Kyrgyzstan’s airlines,” the spokeswoman said.
According to Kyrgyzstan’s news agency AKIpress, of 38 airlines operating in Kyrgyzstan, 27 are on a blacklist of airlines that fail to meet the European Union’s safety requirements.
