DUSHANBE, October 3, 2012, Asia-Plus — British specialist Lloyd Paxton has been appointed chief executive of Tajikistan’s private airline, Somon Air, replacing Alisher Rustamov. Alisher Rustamov has been appointed deputy director of Dushanbe International Airport.
Mr. Lloyd Paxton is a former CEO for Air Astana (Kazakhstan) and Malev (Hungary). Before heading up those airlines, he worked for British Airways as chief for Russian routes.
At Air Astana, he was successful in expanding that airline”s network. In the summer of 2007 he became CEO of Malev, but resigned 2 months later.
As chief executive of Somon Air, Mr. Paxton will be responsible for changing and developing all aspects of the airline so as to achieve international standards throughout its operations and will be supported by five other expatriate directors who are yet to be appointed, press release issued by Somon Air said.
Somon Air is an airline based in Dushanbe. It is Tajikistan”s first private airline. Somon Air is also the first airline in Tajikistan to launch an online booking system.
The airline uses the Boeing 737 in its fleet. Somon Air operates the following types as of August 2012: two Boeing 737-300s; two Boeing 737-800s; and two Boeing 7373-900ERs.
Since its formation, Somon Air has mainly aimed its passenger service at Eastern Europe and other locations. Most flights to international locations operate from Dushanbe. In line with its strategic policy, Somon Air is gradually expanding the geographical coverage of its flights. At present, the company operates a total of eighteen routes. Somon Air now operates to the following destinations: China (Urumqi); Germany (Frankfurt am Main); Kazakhstan (Almaty); Russia (Irkutsk, Khanty-Mansisysk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Orenburg, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Nizhnevartovsk, Novosibirsk, Tuymen and Yekaterinburg); Saudi Arabia (Jeddah); Tajikistan (Khujand); Turkey (Istanbul); Ukraine (Simferopol, Kyiv); and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai).
