Yekaterinburg-based Ural Airlines suspects Tajik aviation authorities of carrying out a “systematic campaign” aiming at squeezing Russian air carriers out of Tajikistan’s market. Meanwhile, Tajik aviation officials say Ural Airlines is acting beyond the confines of a bilateral agreement granting Tajik and Russian air companies equal numbers of flights between the countries.
Press release issued by Ural Airlines notes that Tajik aviation authorities’ refusal to approve Ural Airlines’ summer flight schedule “violates rights of the assigned Russian airlines, namely Ural Airlines.”
Ural Airlines says “it appears that it is a systematic campaign aiming at squeezing Russian airlines out of Tajikistan’s market for the purpose of monopolizing the market.”
The press release notes that Ural Airline submitted the application for operating flights 50 days before the beginning of operating the flights.
Tajik aviation authorities, however, denied Ural Airlines permission to operate five routes connecting cities in the two countries.
On the night of March 24-25, Tajik aviation authorities reportedly reduced the number of flights operated by Russian air carriers by 30 percent without prior notice.
“The non-constructive stance of Tajik aviation authorities will lead to economic losses in both countries,” says the press release.
Every six months, Tajikistan switches over to a summer flight schedule, which covers a period from March 26 to October 26.
Meanwhile, Tajik aviation officials say Ural Airlines is acting beyond the confines of a bilateral agreement granting Tajik and Russian air companies equal numbers of flights between the countries.
According to Tajik aviation authorities, Ural Airlines’ flights by to the Tajik cities of Dushanbe (from Perm), Khujand (from Krasnodar) and Kulob (from Zhukovsky International Airport) violate parity conditions between Tajikistan and the Russian Federations as Tajik airlines do not operate flights to the mentioned Russian cities.
Russian Minister of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, told reporters in Moscow that they have given time to Tajik aviation authorities until April 5.
An official source at the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan says their delegation is expected to leave for Moscow before April 1.
Recall, Ural Airlines was forced to suspend flights to Tajikistan on March 12 as the Tajik side denied Ural Airlines permission to operate the mentioned routes.
The history of disputes between the Tajik and Russian civil aviation authorities dates back to early November 2016. 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.
The Russian civil aviation authorities insisted that Zhukovsky International Airport is not under Moscow’s authority but of the town of Ramenskoye.
Tajikistan that time agreed only to flights for Ural Airlines and Tajik Air from Zhukovsky Airport.
