DUSHANBE, October 29, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajik private company, Somon Air, has purchased Western type aircraft, Boeing 737-800.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the Somon Air sales manager Firdavs Murkhtorov said that the aircraft arrived in Dushanbe on October 28.
“After passing all necessary requirements, the aircraft, which was manufactured this year, will make its first flight to Moscow,” the sales manager said. Mukhtorov refused to name the price they had paid for the aircraft, saying that “it is commercial secret.”
Boeing 737-800 is one of the newest members of the Boeing 737 family along with -600, -700 and -900 models. They continue the 737”s pre-eminence as the world”s most popular and reliable commercial jet transport. The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, and replaces the 737-400. The -800 was launched by Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUlfly) in 1994 and entered service in 1998. The 737-800 seats 162 passengers in a two class layout, or 189 in one class.
Boeing 737-800 is already the second Western type aircraft used by Somon Air. At the beginning of this year, the company inducted Boeing 737-400 on wet lease basis. “Boeing 737-400 is now used to operate daily flights to Moscow and once-weekly flight to Dubai (the United Arab Emirates),” Mukhtorov said.
“By the end of this year, we plan to purchase one more aircraft that will allow extending the geography and frequency of flights,” said the sales manager. “In the future, we hope to launch air routes to Istanbul, New Delhi, Tehran, Frankfurt am Main, Urumqi and other cities of the world.”
Somon Air was granted an operating license and aviation operator certificate in 2006. The company currently has six pilots. Besides, ten other pilots of the company are currently taking a special training course in Turkey. The Somon Air director general is Rustam Kholiqov.
