KHUJAND, April 16, 2009, Asia-Plus — The global financial crisis has resulted in the number of passengers traveling from Khujand to Russia and other CIS states by plane decreasing, Raqib Umarov, an official with the Khujand airport, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, 55,000 people have traveled from Khujand to different cities by plane over the first three months of this year, which is 18 percent fewer than in the same period of last year. “More than 90 percent of passengers that have traveled by plane from the Khujand airport over the report period are labor migrants,” Umarov said.
Over the same three-month period, more than 78 tons of cargo have been shipped through the Khujand airport, which is 15 percent fewer than in January-March 2008.
“To improve the situation we plan to launch air routes to Almaty (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and China as well as to improve the quality of services rendered to passengers,” Umarov said.
