Passengers have been waiting for flight from the Russian city of Irkutsk to Dushanbe since December 26.
Tajik privately owned air carrier, Somon Air, has confirmed this information, noting that they are expected to fly from Irkutsk today evening at 6:00 pm if an appropriate agreement is reached. “If the passengers do not fly, they will be able to get their money for air tickets back,” an official representative of Somon Air told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, according to some unofficial sources, the passengers cannot get their money back.
Recall, Moscow suspended flights of Somon Air to the Russian regions starting from 00:00 am on December 23.
According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, it includes flights of the airline to all Russian cities, except Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The first to be hit by the new 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 state news agency TASS. He added ban on Somon Air flights to Russian regions was a retaliatory measure.
Somon Air is the first private airline in Tajikistan with an office headquartered in Dushanbe. The airline operations are based at Dushanbe International Airport. The airline started operating on February 5, 2008 with regular flights to Moscow and Dubai.
Somon Air also serves as the official carrier of President of the Republic of Tajikistan and other Tajikistan high-ranking officials.
