Russian air company, Ural Airlines, operates flights to Tajikistan without any restrictions.
“We have not received any official notification from the Tajik civil aviation authorities on suspending our flights to Tajikistan, and therefore, Ural Airlines continues operating flights to Tajikistan without any restrictions,” a source at Ural Airlines’ office in Dushanbe told Asia-Plus today morning.
Some Russian outlets reported on December 23 that Dushanbe intends to suspend Ural Airlines’ flights to Tajikistan.
Tajikistan has reportedly suspended flight of Ural Airlines to Dushanbe from four Russian cities, including Krasnodar, Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Krasnoyarsk, in response to Moscow’s decision to suspend flights of Tajik private air carrier, Somon Air, to Russian regions.
The first to be hit by the Russian civil aviation authorities’ bans were the passengers expecting to fly on December 23 on Somon Air from the Russian city of Orenburg after aviation authorities in Russia stopped the company from operating in its skies.
“Tajikistan, in violation of the agreement on air communication between the countries, as well as the protocol from November 7, 2016, has not given permission to Russia’s Yamal airline for flights on from Zhukovsky airport,” an official representative of the Russian Ministry of Transport was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS. He added ban on Somon Air flights to Russian regions was a retaliatory measure.
The history of the dispute dates back to early November. The two countries faced the threat of suspension of flights in early November because of a dispute between Moscow and Dushanbe over the status of Russia’s Zhukovsky International Airport, which was officially opened in May 2016.
Dushanbe called for a revision of existing bilateral agreements on mutual air flights, saying that Zhukovsky is Moscow’s fourth international airport and that it has increased the number of flights from Moscow to Tajikistan.
Meanwhile, Russian civil aviation authorities insisted that Zhukovsky International Airport is not under Moscow’s authority but of the town of Ramenskoye.
Russia's Transport Ministry said on November 3 that it would suspend flights to Tajikistan from November 8 unless Tajik aviation authorities change their position on the Zhukovsky airport near Moscow.
Following the talks that took place in Moscow on November 7, Tajik and Russian civil aviation authorities agreed to maintain and develop air traffic, and in particular reached an agreement on flights to Tajikistan from Zhukovsky International Airport near Moscow.
Trouble resumed on December 21, when Russia again threatened to close its airspace to Tajik airlines if Dushanbe would not agree to admit flights from Yamal Airlines, a company based in the northern Siberian town of Salekhard.
Tajikistan’s civil aviation authorities on December 21 just an hour before midnight agreed to temporarily allow flights by Russia’s Yamal Airlines to airports in Dushanbe and Khujand from Zhukovsky International Airport.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reports that Tajikistan has allowed Yamal Airlines to operate just one chartered flight from Zhukovsky airport to Dushanbe on December 22 to take out about 100 passengers who were stranded in Zhukovsky airport for two days.
Tajik authorities have questioned the legitimacy of the Yamal flights, but agreed to continue talks on the matter after Russia lifted its threat to stop all flights to Tajikistan.
Tajikistan’s Ministry of Transport said that during the November negotiations, Tajikistan agreed only to flights for Ural Airlines and Tajik Air, and that there was no mention of Yamal Airlines.
Tajik authorities said allowing the Yamal flights would break the parity of Russia and Tajikistan in the number of airlines allowed flying between Moscow and Tajikistan.
The Tajik Ministry of Transport noted that Yamal Airlines had no right to sell tickets without receiving a permit from the Tajik government.
“To operate regular flights to Tajikistan, Yamal Airlines needs to get official permit from Tajikistan’s civil aviation authorities. “Yamal Airlines will not be given the permit within the next two months,” a source at Tajikistan’s Ministry of Transport told Asia-Plus on December 22.
A statement released by the Tajik civil aviation authorities on December 22, in particular, notes that “since the Tajik side has not yet appointed the second air carrier on this route and for the purpose of observing the parity of Tajikistan and Russia in the number of airlines flying between Tajikistan and Moscow, it appears impossible to give operating permit to Yamal Airlines for 2016-2017 winter season.”
