Tajikistan’s privately owned air carrier Somon Air is expected to operate more than 130 charter flights from Russia this month.
“In January, Somon Air will operate more than 130 charter flights from various cities of the Russian Federation to Dushanbe. As in the past, Somon Air will operate four or six charter flights per day. From Moscow to Dushanbe, it will operate three charter flights per day,” Ikrom Subhonzoda, Director of the Civil Aviation Agency of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus in an Interview today morning.
Recall, tickets for charter flights went on sale in the second half of November. It was noted that time that Somon Air would operate charter flights from Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, and Surgut.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the civil aviation authorities of Tajikistan and Russia on resumption of regular flight are still under way.
Air traffic between Tajikistan and Russia has been suspended since March 20, 2020.
Tajik authorities have suspended all international flights. Tajikistan closed all its airports at midnight on March 19-20 due to the coronavirus concerns. Only charters flights to repatriate Tajik nationals stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus crisis have been operated so far.
During the period from April through October last year, about 70,000 Tajik nationals were reportedly brought home by charter flights.
To-date, Tajikistan has resumed regular flights to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Istanbul (Turkey).
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.
