Russian authorities have restored the previous flight time for Tajik air carriers operating flights to Russian cities. The Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan says the decision to restore the previous flight time was reached during negotiations between the aviation authorities of the two countries that took place in Moscow on April 4.
As it had been reported earlier, the Russian authorities in early April added an hour to the routes of Tajik national air carrier Tajik Air and Tajik private air carrier Somon Air operating flights to Russian cities, with obvious cost implications.
The Tajik civil aviation authorities were reportedly notified of this decision of the Russian authorities on March 7 and the decision took effect on March 8.
The Main Center of the Single System of Organization of Air Traffic of the Russian Federation has justified its decision to add an hour to their routes as resulting from overload of the air routes.
Changes have affected all air routes connecting Tajik cities and the Russian cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Surgut, Samara, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Kazan and Orenburg.
Meanwhile, the Russian airlines were continuing to use the previous air routes to operate flights to Tajikistan that put Tajik air carriers at a disadvantage.
Recall, negotiations between Moscow and Dushanbe over aviation disputes that resulted in lifting restrictions on flights between the Russian and Tajik cities.
Moreover, four new air routes, namely Perm-Dushanbe, Zhukovsky Airport-Kulob, Chelyabinsk-Khujand and Krasnodar-Khujand have reportedly been added to the summer schedule.
Recent airlines war between Tajikistan and Russian has resulted in reduction in the number of flights between the two countries.
On March 12, Tajikistan’s Transportation Ministry denied Yekaterinburg-based Ural Airlines permission to operate five routes connecting cities in the two countries. Tajik aviation officials noted that Ural Airlines was acting beyond the confines of a bilateral agreement granting Tajik and Russian air companies equal numbers of flights between the countries.
On April 1, the Russian civil aviation authorities suspended flights of Tajik air carriers from Dushanbe to the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg and Sochi and from the Tajik northern city of Khujand to Kazan and St. Petersburg.
Tajikistan has responded by halting flights of five Russian airlines’ flights, namely Ural Airlines, UTair, S-7 Airlines, Nordwind Airlines and Globus Airlines (Russian airline based at Domodedovo International Airport and operating for S7 Airlines), from Russian regions to Dushanbe and Khujand beginning on April 2.
